The Orange Complication
by Mismatch-lover
Summary: A few obsessions begin the destruction of a certain woman's life, despite how far back her and the Auditore's go. Can she find some way to redeem herself once given the opportunity to start new? Assassin's Creed AU M for Language and Lemons.
1. Chapter 1

…  
><strong>Um.<br>Hi?**

**:3 It's been a while.**

**Honestly, I had made a vow to myself that the next thing I posted on FF wouldn't be Assassin's Creed related, but, hell, that didn't turn out very well, now did it? Not to mention that it's related to "Just Beyond My Reach" too.**

**But only slightly.**

**It's more of an AU, but with same characters.**

**I hate to place AU fics in the present—especially when the characters come from a different time and a different country (I don't know enough about other countries besides the US to write about them—and I'm too lazy to look up information too.) I try to work around it as best that I can.**

**SO!**

**This is a "Just Beyond My Reach, My Assassin" AU story that popped in my head one day. :3 So, it will involve Narina and Ezio and all that goodness. No, you will not have to had read Just Beyond My Reach, My Assassin to understand this story.**

**I expect this thing to only be around four to five chapters...but it'll probably pan out to be more, knowing myself. X.X**

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><p><em><strong>THE ORANGE COMPLICATION<strong>_

_****"**'**_**Oh Darling, I love you so_.__'__  
><em>**_'If you'd ask me for my heart, there's no way that I'll say no.'_**_  
>'<em>Oh Darling, just take a chance please_.'  
><em>**_'So we can stay together 'till Hell starts to freeze.'"_****

**_-"Oh Darling" by Plug in Stereo ft. Cady Groves  
><em>**

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><p>My hands smelled like oranges.<p>

Frowning, I held them stiffly away as I rolled over in my bed, automatically reaching for the bottle of lotion of knew was sitting there. It wasn't that I hated the smell of oranges—hell, I loved them. But for the moment when the memories were still so fresh, I wanted nothing to do with them. The Bath and Bodyworks lotion was rubbed ferociously into my palms, smearing the cool substance up my arms. The smell of cinnamon and apples replaced the citrus smell and I finally was able to roll out of bed, yawning loudly as I sat at the edge of the bed.

As I stared at my feet against the wood floor, my mind wandered to the events that had happened the night before, causing me to lift my gaze to look around the room. His jacket was gone from the back of the computer chair and his other clothes were no longer strewn about haphazardly.

Although I had known it was going to be a one-night-stand, I still felt my mouth twist into a deep frown. I hope we could still be friends despite everything.

Pushing aside the thoughts and the images, I stood from the bed and walked over to the dresser to begin picking through the clothes, trying to find my jacket and shorts. It wasn't as early as I normally started exercising, but 7:00 AM was enough. As I dressed, I idly wondered just how early Federico had to have gotten up to leave without me noticing. A sad thought occurred to me when I considered the option that perhaps he merely just left in the middle of the night, still tipsy from the drinks we had and the sex we had both guiltily enjoyed. A small part of me was angry, but the more logical side of me understood and hoped that he had made it home safely.

A growl suddenly pushed from my throat as I grabbed my I-Phone from the nightstand and stormed out of the room. I had just gotten myself in deep shit, even if no one knew yet. But knowing Federico and how he was close with his family, Ezio probably already knew. I would forever be tagged as 'the girl who Feddy cheated on' in Ezio's eyes. And yes; Federico had been married for two years now. I felt terrible about everything that had happened.

I imagined that Federico did too.

Once I had pulled my hair back, I walked out of the bathroom and into the hall that led to my living room, small, but nice for being an apartment. I was lucky that I had a job at the Auditore Inc. building to help me pay for such luxuries, and I was roughly reminded that if Federico hadn't kept his mouth shut, I would probably be kicked out onto the streets by noon. Giovanni was kind, but I don't think he'd put up with anything that would try to tear his family apart, AKA: me.

Gazing up at the clock and judging how much time I would need to get ready for work, I set an alarm on my phone, plugged in the headphones, blasted the music up high, and jumped up on the treadmill, losing myself in the rush of the constant motion and the thudding of my heart.

It was about thirty minutes later that I decided to turn off the machine, holding onto the side bars to help me slow down and hop off. Sweating head to toe, I grabbed a towel that I had slung over the table, rubbing it against my face, huffing into the soft cotton. The clock read 7:32, and I decided that it was time to take the shower I was so desperately needing. Although the warm water washed away the sweat, I also wanted it to wash away the memories, the filth that seemed to be burned into my skin. When I looked in the foggy mirror, clean and fresh, the only thing that I could think was 'home-wrecker' and 'despicable'. Groaning out loud and rubbing my face, I prayed that Federico would find it in his heart to forgive me. If I hadn't pushed him into going to the bar after work the night before, then maybe the whole thing wouldn't have happened.

But I couldn't not show up at work. Not only would that look bad on my part, it would tag me as a coward, and I wouldn't be labeled that if I could help it. I was going to try and be the bigger man and confront the problem first, knowing that it must be devastating to Federico. At least I was single—Federico had been with his wife three years before marrying her and being with her for two.

As I walked back to the bedroom, I got on my phone and looked at the schedule for the day, seeing that I had a meeting at three with some of our sister companies in the city and Giovanni had wanted me to help Federico present. I frowned at that—the meeting was the whole reason we decided we wanted to go out last night. _Be the bigger person, Narina_, I thought to myself as I dug through my wardrobe to find my nice suit. _Just get this ugly mess cleaned up_.

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><p>The garage was packed by the time I pulled in at 8:52, barely making it to work on time. Finally finding a spot, I parked my car in between two big trucks, my puny white car looking even more insignificant between the giant, dark vehicles.<p>

Gathering my purse and turning off the car, I stepped out, taking a deep breath to try and calm myself from the rising panic when I thought that the first person I needed to talk to this morning was Federico. I quickly locked the doors, slammed the door, and scurried across the parking garage, the click of my heels echoing loudly. As I walked into the building and headed to the elevator, I suddenly realized that mine and Federico's idea about stripping off stress last night actually just added more to everything. Squeezing into the already packed elevator, I sighed loudly and wondered just how this day was going to pan out.

"He didn't come to work today?" I exclaimed in shock, staring at Giovanni.

"He said something about not feeling well," the elder man, my boss, said, smiling. "Personally, I think he decided to start his weekend a little early. I canceled the afternoon meeting today until Federico is able to present. I trust you will still help him?"

I felt like me eyes were about to pop out of my head, my mind processes a thousand thoughts per second. He ditched out on work today! Judging from the smile Giovanni was flashing me, Federico must not have told his father about what had happened, otherwise this innocent inquiry of where the eldest Auditore brother was would have turned out to me getting my ass fired.

"O-of course," I answered, trying to compose myself. "I...I'll just get back to work then. Thank you, Mr. Auditore."

"Please, Narina, it's Giovanni." He smiled at me. "Have a good day."

I had known the Auditore family since my second year in college, having met Federico in one of my humanity classes. We weren't really friends until Ezio came into the picture and began inviting me out to hang out with them, play some video games, go to concerts. Soon, I got really close to their family, their parents, their little sister, their little brother who was still being home schooled due to his illnesses. When college was over with, I had moved away for a few years, back to my home town in Nebraska. But once I decided I needed a job, I complained to Ezio over the phone one night. The next thing I knew was that I was offered a job in New York at Auditore Incorporation, a Design and Production office that usually dealt with logos for other main companies. I wasn't about to turn it down, and moved over to the big Apple. Both the Auditore brothers worked at the office, and they found me an apartment to stay in. It was nice to be reunited with a family that I had fallen in love with, somehow more of a family than my own ever was.

My job was a personal assistant for the 23rd floor, the floor that Federico managed. I hadn't been given the job—the only favor I got was getting a job in the building itself. I spent a good two years working hard and climbing to the top. It had been all going smoothly...until I slept with my bosses married son.

Returning to my work area, I began to shuffle through my papers, trying to busy myself so my thoughts would no longer sway over to images that seemed to doom me. Since I had been focusing so hard on trying to distract myself, I didn't hear someone approach me from behind. I was thumbing through a file, trying to find a document on our latest commission.

"Hey, Narina."

Jumping and nearly dropping the file, I spun around at the voice. Ezio stood behind me, a half smirk on his lips. He always looked somewhat silly to me in his suit, a little too uptight for his personality. But, I had a strange attraction to men in suits, so it didn't really bother me.

I quickly composed myself. "Hello, Ezio." I turned back around, not wanting to give myself away. Ezio could read me like an open book.

"What are you doing?" he asked innocently, his presence moving closer and making me feel extremely nervous.

"Working. Like you should be. Don't you have your own floor to worry about?"

"Someone has to see to this floor since Federico isn't in today." A slight pause. "I wonder why."

"Your dad said he was sick," I mused, moving away like I needed to look in another area in the cabinets.

"Hm." He didn't saying anything more and followed me to where I was standing...a bit too close than I would like. Slamming the filing cabinet close, I spun around and glared at him.

"What are you doing?" I snapped. He had his head inclined forward, like he had been trying to get closer to me without stepping forward..

An insincere smirk played his mouth, moving in just the right light that the light scar on his lips barely showed, a mark from his younger days he had told me of before.. "I was seeing if you still smelt like oranges," he whispered, his eyes taking a wicked gleam.

His words seemed to punch me in the gut, and with the same effect, I collapsed down against the cabinet, finally caught by my own mistakes. "He told you," I whispered. Not asking, for I already knew. There was no other way Ezio would have luckily chosen oranges.

"Of course he did." Ezio bent down to take a hold of my arm, tugging me up lest someone walk in the room and see me collapsed. "Called me at four o'clock this morning blubbering."

My heart sank and I stared up into my best friend's golden eyes. "He didn't tell Amelia, did he?"

"As of this morning, no." Ezio let go of my arm and put his hands in his pockets, still smirking at me. I should have known that he wouldn't be too broken up about Federico cheating—especially since it was me. "But we do have family dinner night tomorrow—I wouldn't be surprised if he broke right then and spilled everything."

I wasn't scared that Ezio would tell anyone—he was extremely good at keeping secrets. My secret how I had peed my pants once from watching a scary movie was never told, and the secret that I was the one that had thrown up all over Federico's bed back in college had never been put into light again. And there were plenty more, some of my deepest darkest secrets all planted with trust in Ezio. I think the only reason he was so good at keeping the secrets was because Ezio liked to hold things above me, to remind me that I owed him a lot.

Sighing, I turned back to the cabinet and tugged it open. "So, I should plan to be fired by next week, then?"

"Oh, please," Ezio mused. "Yeah, my dad would be mad, but he wouldn't go and throw you out on the street. He thinks of you like his own daughter, you know."

"Which would make me sleeping with his married son even more scandalous," I muttered, finally finding the file I had wanted and turned to go sit down at my desk. Dropping the files on the desk, I followed after them, resting my head against the manilla folders as I groaned. "Ezio, I'm so screwed!"

"From what I heard, yes, you are."

Throwing him an evil look, I folded my arms on the desk and rested my head against them. "I feel terrible about it. Remind me to never drink again."

Laughing, he seated himself at the edge of the desk. "Don't worry about it. If Federico does end up spilling the beans, I'll make sure to control the anger."

I rolled my eyes, sitting up straight again and flipping open the folder. "How reassuring," I muttered sarcastically.

He hummed under his breath, a small laugh, before I felt him watching me. Glancing up, he had one brow raised at me, his infamous smirk on his face. "So," he mused, the grin growing larger if that was possible, "all I have to do if I ever want you to sleep with me is get you drinking and then offer you oranges?"

Exasperated, I slammed my hands on the desk and jabbed my finger towards the door. "Out. Now."

Raising his hands in defense, he pushed off the desk and walked (more like danced) over to the door. "Fine, fine." He paused once he had opened the small office's door. "You should call and talk to him though," he offered, more serious this time, making me look up at him. He had grown less silly and was giving me a true-blue friend look. "He may have skipped work today to avoid the awkward encounters, but this is something you both need to discuss."

"Thanks Ezio." Right then the phone on the desk rang. "I'll have to consider that," I continued before I reached over and picked up the phone, putting on my friendly voice. Ezio left then, and I fell into the flow of the work day, taking calls, explaining that Federico Auditore wasn't in today, writing messages, and planning on emailing them to my immediate boss. The one I had slept with the night before.

Rubbing my face, I realized that I _was_ basically screwed—it was against the rules to have office relationships, especially if it was boss/employee. Even if Giovanni went 'easy' on me, it was his job to fire me for breaking the office rules while also committing adultery, something I'm sure he took personally. Trying to distract myself once again, I pulled out my I-phone and looked over the schedule for our plans the next few weeks. _Next Thursday, nothing is going on_, I thought idly, touching the day to expand the notes to be written. _I guess I'll request for that day to be the meeting_. I paused once the digital keyboard popped up. What if I wasn't even _working_ anymore by next Thursday? I certainty wasn't making myself feel any better.

I glanced at the clock and planned out the rest of my day. While my day consisted of dealing with client calls and set up for trips that needed to be planned, I decided that I would take my lunch hour to call Federico and try and talk about our situation.

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><p>Some of the office girls popped in once noon rolled around, asking me if I wanted to go with them to lunch. I declined politely, saying I needed to catch up on work, even though in reality I had nothing to do. The next person who popped in was Ezio, offering to go grab me something to eat when I told him I was planning on getting a hold of Federico. Declining, I waited until he left again to pull out my phone. I stared at the screen for a long moment, trying to go over the conversation in my head.<p>

Finally, after a good five minutes of contemplating, I opened the contacts and scrolled down to Federico. Sucking in a deep breath, I pressed 'call' and held it up to my ear, already feeling myself start to panic. When it rang three, four times, I started to hope that he wouldn't blow me off, that we needed to talk about this as soon as possible.

"Hello." A mix of relief and fear washed through me at his voice. "Hello, Na-na."

I swallowed. "Hey, Feddy."

Neither of us said anything for a moment.

"How is the office today? Any major developments that I've missed."

"Oh. I've emailed you all the messages that I've gotten throughout the morning."

"Hm. So you have."

Another silence.

"Look, we have to talk," I whispered, standing up and starting to pace about my small office.

He sighed, and I could imagine him rubbing his forehead. "Yeah. We do."

"First of all, I want to apologize for all of this," I started out, feeling my heart trip a few beats. "I mean, I didn't want it to turn out like this."

"Yeah. Neither did I," he whispered.

I took a deep breath. "I know this is a big deal, that both of our jobs are on the line...as well as your marriage." Closing my eyes, I rubbed my forehead and went through my thoughts quickly. "I...I'm willing to take the bulk of this onto my own shoulders. It was my idea to go to the bar last night."

"Na-na, no," Federico cut me off. "It's as much my fault as it is yours. I should have recognized that it wasn't a good idea in the first place." He went quiet. "Besides, I'm the one that is married," he muttered.

"Don't beat yourself up over this," I demanded. "We went out as friends. Neither of us knew it would..." I trailed off, not wanting to admit the words out loud.

A few moments passed where we both just sat and listened to each others breathing. One of my best friends on the other line, and I had nothing to say. It was a sign that we were both in deeper than we had first thought.

Finally, Federico breathed deeply, his voice raspy even over the phone. "I have to tell her," he whispered. "Amelia needs to know. I can't stand keeping a secret from her."

I swallowed, already having expected this, but still felt the panic flood through me. "I understand...Your dad needs to know too."

He hummed in agreement. "I'm sorry, Narina."

"No, I am." I sighed, collapsing in my chair. "I'm so, so very sorry, Federico."

I couldn't bear to say goodbye to him, for I felt like I was saying it like I was really going away forever, so I simply hung up. Then I started crying because I k new that I had just lost my job, the trust of my new family, and the long friendship of the Auditores.

Slamming my I-phone on the desk, I buried my face in my hands, trying to calm myself before a worker would walk in and see me in such a mess. It was no use, though; I felt the tears stream down my cheeks. Wiping them away while trying not to smear my make-up. I stood from my chair and began to shuffle through my desk, deciding that I needed to start getting packed up since I was going to be fired next Monday.

Surprising myself, I kept it together as I started to gather my things, keeping my mind on the task at hand, not focusing on the reason _why_ I was doing the task in the firsthand.

The door opened and closed, a thick, saucy aroma filling the room. Turning around, I found Ezio grinning at me, holding out a Hot Pocket on a plate.

"I know you said you didn't want anything," he mused, placing the plate on my desk. "But I figured you'd be hungry anyway." His golden eyes flashed up at me, his grin dropping. "Did you call him?"

I nodded slowly, turning back to the files I was going through.

"Na-na?"

I didn't know what it was, but the nickname that he and Federico had adopted to calling me caused made the panic overwhelm me. Trying to keep myself calm, I fidgeted and started to touch everything with my shaking hands. Please, _please_ give me something else to think of. Instead of that, the tears started to spill down my cheeks again.

Then I found myself in Ezio's arms, his head resting on top of mine. "It's going to be okay, Narina. I promise."

"No," I sobbed into his chest, letting it all go. "No it's not! He's telling everyone! I'm going to lose my job, lose my family, and everyone that I love! I'm going to have to move back to Nebraska!"

His fingers were running through my hair, trying to comfort me as he whispered softly to me. Then he held me away at arms length, bending down to look me in the eye. "Look, I promise you that you won't lose your job. I'll talk to my dad about it."

I rubbed at my face, ridding the tears before Ezio pulled me into another hug. "You're too into this family for him to throw you out on your own."

No matter his promise, I still felt terrible and a foreboding feeling darkened my thoughts. Sniffing, I finally caught a hold of myself, pulling away from Ezio. "Well, I'm going to be transferred if that's the case. So can you help me pack up my office? Just a little bit so I won't have to do so much on Monday."

Ezio stared at me quietly, letting me go. "I'll make him go easy on you, Na-na. I promise."

Although I smiled at him, I knew that I was going to get what I deserved.

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><p><strong>So I hope that I can get this story done within three to four short chapters. <strong>

** Also, I will try to get this done, but I have a lot of school work to do, and I'm really getting into my own novel right now. Not to mention getting everything in for college.**

** Thanks for reading and please understand that this is something I am merely doing for fun and as an opportunity to expand on my OC and romantic situations. :3**

** Thanks! And Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, hello, my readers. It has been far, far too long, hasn't it?  
>I have a confession to make—I have fallen so far out of Assassin's Creed, it's not even funny. But, I dearly, dearly miss little Narina and Ezio together, and that is why I have convinced myself to finish this goddamn story so I can be done with them forever! (Or, at least, until I have more time on my hands).<br>**

**I have been far too busy readying for college and also working on my own story, which is (kinda) going along.**

**Thanks to those who have reviewed (and also those who have read JBMRMA)!**

**Those who reviewed:**  
><strong>shippolove844<strong>  
><strong>Signora Ted<strong>  
><strong>Xia19222<strong>  
><strong>Ice Assassin<strong>  
><strong>Anonymous<strong>

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><p><strong>THE ORANGE COMPLICATION<strong>

I could hear the clock ticking out in the hallway, pounding away the seconds. My fingers toyed with the collar of my shirt, tugging lightly to pull my tie looser. A rather strange breath fell from my lips, like I was trying to steady myself. The clock read 5:30 PM. It was time for me to leave, to go over to a usually innocent dinner night. But tonight, it would turn into a disaster.

Grabbing my keys from the side table, I pushed myself up off the couch and wandered out the front door of my apartment. As the elevator rode down the thirty floors, I felt my heart beginning to sink for my Na-na. Ever since college, she had been the one girl that somehow resisted my charms. That was fine with me. At first, I _did _want to sleep with her, but after only a few months, I knew _that_ aspiration was nowhere within my reach. So I accepted that fact and drew her in a totally different way. She became the dearest of friends.

And now I could only sit back and watch as her world was torn down.

I hadn't worked too hard to get Narina a job, considering that my father loved her. She was a hard worker all throughout college, and my father had always been proud of her decisions. Not only would he be disappointed in what had happened between her and his eldest son, but also he would be heartbroken.

The entire ride over, the rush of the tires running along the pavement muffled to a hum inside the car interior, I couldn't help but feel slightly panicked. I had tried to seem confident in front of Narina, but I knew that there was a certain point that my father would get to that he would never consider even keeping Narina in the same company. It could and probably would get that drastic that quick. I had prepared myself the night before, preparing to give it my all to make sure the worst thing that would happen to Narina would be a transfer out of the main building in New York, perhaps maybe to another office on the other side of the city. There was no way she was going to be in the same building anymore—it was a sure bet that she was going to be ripped right out of her position directly under my brother.

I had no idea why I had promised her that it would be okay. I wasn't even sure of it myself. There was only so much that I could do.

My phone rang out from the cup holder in the middle console. Reaching down and picking it up, I saw the name "Feddy" spelled out on the screen. Pressing the call button, I held it up to my ear.

"What's up, brother of mine?" I mused in my common joking voice, never letting on how aware I was of my surroundings.

"Hey, Ezio." Federico's voice was serious, and I knew exactly why. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Sure thing."

My older brother sighed; the sadness was weaved noticeably into his breath. "If Amelia kicks me out tonight, can I come crash at your place?"

I paused for a moment. "Yeah, of course. The couch is always up for grabs, you know that."

Federico chuckled, anything but happy. "Yeah. I haven't had to sleep on it for years now."

My hand on the steering wheel gripped tighter as I slowed down at a traffic light, headed out of town to my parent's house that was on the outskirts. "You're really going through with this, aren't you?"

"You know me," Federico hummed. "I can't keep a secret of this magnitude. Sometimes I wish I could be like you. Never breath a word."

A part of me was proud at his words, but the other part of me darkened when I remembered what I had kept from others for so long. "You know, if I wasn't so good at keeping secrets, brother, you would have known about Narina's kink for oranges beforehand."

Federico laughed again, but it sounded panicked. "It would have certainly been helpful. How would you have known before, anyway? I forgot to ask why you weren't so surprised that _oranges_ had been a factor in it all."

I thought back to that day in college, sitting in my cheap, little apartment, playing _Halo_ with Narina. When one of her friends called and said something about getting a new boyfriend and how she wanted the dorm all to herself so that they could do '_stuff'_' (which she must have gone into extreme detail, considering Narina's face had fallen into utter disgust), Narina had hung up and went off on a tangent about how ridiculous it was that some people made sex _way_ too kinky and did some pretty strange things.

"Oh, come now, Na-na," I had laughed. "You have to have a kink yourself! Oh!" I held up a hand, putting aside the X-Box controller for the moment. "Let me guess! Hm...Bondage."

Her water blue eyes narrowed, her cute little nose scrunching up. "No! I don't have a kink!"

"Lies,"I accused with a grin. "How about being a masochist?"

"No! Now shut up." She punched my shoulder with her small fist. "Let's just play our stupid game."

But the faint blush on her cheeks didn't go by unnoticed, and I leaned closer to her. "Come on, Narina—you can tell me. You know I won't tell a soul."

Frowning, she glanced at me from the corner of her eye. Then, sighing, she placed her controller on the coffee table. "Promise you won't tell?"

"You know I won't."

"I want a promise." She held up her long, slender pinky. "Promise me."

"What are we, twelve?" I muttered, but reached up and wrapped my giant pinky around hers. "Fine, I promise," I mused, shaking her hand lightly.

"Okay." She sat up straight, her blush now extremely noticeable as she cleared her throat.

Then she told me how she would incorporate oranges into her little sex games, and, even to me, it was honestly a little strange—something I would have never came up with. But it was hot at the same time too.

When she finished, all I could do for a moment was stare at her with a half-grin on my face, my mind in a far-away place with Narina and her explained oranges.

"You can't tell anyone!" She pleaded. "It's embarrassing!"

"No, no, no," I objected, grinning ear to ear. "It's hot! We should try it some time!"

"Oh God, no!" She squealed, then jumped up from the couch. "I'm going to leave if you don't stop joking around!"

"And go where? Isn't your dorm room...'occupied' at the moment?" Laughing before she could respond, I reached out and patted the couch next to me. "Ah, I was kidding Na-na. Let's beat this game so we can start on the second one."

I came out of the memory within only seconds. "It just popped up one day," I muttered, somehow feeling extremely jealous that Federico got to experience those things that Narina had explained. "Anyway, I'm almost to the house. You there?"

There was a short pause. "Yeah."

"Alright, then. I'll see you there."

After I hung up, I took a deep breath, taking a right down a long road that led to a big house that my parents had bought back during their first years of marriage. The place where I had grown up. The property stretched out a good hundred feet in front of the house, a slope of grassy lawn that I had spent most of my childhood running across. When I was 18, I had desired nothing more than to get out of here, but whenever I looked back after my college days, I only wished that I could still have those old moments. I had tried to grow up much too fast, and I could see that now. Back in the days, the wind would brush through the trees and the birds would sing, the world centering around all things enjoyable and uncertain. But now...now everything was a mess. I no longer listened to the whispering of the trees or the humming of the summer. Things had been placed in perspective, and I had forgotten what it was like to be a child. It was moments like this that I desired to go back to those days when nothing really mattered.

Parking behind Federico's car in the driveway, I turned the car off and sat for a moment, trying to recollect my thoughts, trying to focus on the situation at hand. After a big breath filled my chest, I climbed out of the car, trying to brace myself for the storm.

Taking a step up onto the front patio, I saw Federico sitting on the swing, his phone in hand. He wasn't looking at me—merely staring out over the yard like he was contemplating just what I was moments before. I stalled on the porch, debating whether or not to go inside and greet my waiting family. Or if I should sit by Federico and wallow in the silence just a minute longer. Slowly, hesitantly, I walked over to the porch swing and sank down into it, the seat rocking back and forth lightly, Federico never breaking from his stare. As I settled next to him, my gaze falling over the yard as well, both of us sighed at the same time, reminding me that we were both in further than we had ever intended to be. We were afraid of change, the devastating change that could possibly tear apart our knitted family. Nothing had ever been strong enough before. But now we had our doubts.

For a good five minutes, Federico and I sat there in our own mistakes, our own dirty little secrets, and felt our own worlds wear down because of it. The air was chilled with fireflies flickering out in the yard, the sound of the voices inside of the house drifting like a faraway, childhood dream. The warm aroma of my mother's cooking put the cherry on top of how the guilt built up inside of me. As good as I was at keeping secrets, I hated keeping it from the ones I loved just as much as any other person would.

"Federico!" The front door opened after the voice floated out, the thud of the footsteps on the wood. "Honey, could you come taste...Ezio!" My mother was standing at the door, beaming brightly at me. "When did you get here?"

I forced a smile at her as I stood up from the swing and opened my arms for a hug. "Just a moment ago."

"What are you two doing sitting out in the cold? Come inside! Dinner is almost ready!" She reached down and took a hold of Federico's hand. We allowed her to drag us out of the cold and into the warm home that I had spent my entire childhood growing up in. The thick smell of roast and gravy filled the front hall as I kicked off my shoes, finding a strange comfort in the familiarity. It took no more than two more steps until I was embraced tightly.

"Ezio!" I gazed down into bright, brown, wide eyes and a toothy grin. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know, Petruccio. I haven't any time to come back." My youngest brother was sick. Really sick, deathly sick. Thanks to medical technology, he was able to live longer than what was expected, but his days were still numbered. He had been home-schooled since he was a child, which meant that he never really had a lot of friends aside from Federico and I. A thought crossed my mind and it made me feel sick to my stomach to realize just how much Petruccio looked up to his elder brother, and how that respect would melt away after tonight. I felt more bad for Petruccio than I did for Federico. He had little things to be happy about, and now one more of them would be ripped away from him.

"The house has been so quiet now that Claudia went off to College," Petruccio mused, backing away from the hug. "I don't have anyone to play with anymore."

"Did she make it home?" I asked, shrugging out of my coat.

My little brother shook his head. "No, she said something about a concert with her friends."

"Ah." I glanced up and watch my father approach me with a bright smile, and my stomach dropped ferociously. It took all that I had to smile back at him convincingly. "Hello, Ezio. When did you get here?"

I reached out and bumped my fist into his shoulder. "A moment ago. Dinner almost done?"

My father wasn't going to settle for the casual greeting and drew me into a giant hug, ruffling my hair to top it off. "We're setting the table right now."

I needed to get away from him. No matter how calm I looked on the outside, I could never quite reign in my panic around my father. It was like I knew if he looked too intently at me, he would see what I was trying to hide. "Mom probably needs help in the kitchen." I brushed by him, hoping he wouldn't see through my rude gesture.

I wish I wouldn't have taken that route, for when I took a step in the kitchen, I nearly felt like I was about to vomit. Amelia stood with my mother, placing the silverware next to the plates on the table, a small smile on my sister-in-law's face. She was too happy—this news about Federico's cheating would devastate her. Leaning back against the wall for support, I had to rub my face to hold in the hysteria. This wasn't good.

"Are you feeling okay, son?" My mother asked, concern nearly palpable in her voice. "You have become awfully pale."

"Yes...no? No, I'm fine," I muttered, struggling to get a hold of myself standing up straight. I forced a smile. "Just hungry, that's all!"

My mother smiled back. "Well, then come sit! It is nearly ready!"

She had pulled out a chair for me, and I slowly sat down in it, settling myself in for the rough ride that was about to shake us all.

* * *

><p>Once the table was covered with mouth-watering food, everyone came and joined me at the table, my mother sitting at one end, my father at the other. Petruccio was bouncing in his seat next to me as he reached for food to plop onto his plate. Federico sat across from me, Amelia between him and my mother. Federico looked ill too, his face was pale, and his wide eyes were simply pinned onto the food, no form of an appetite in his expression. My father kept a stoic face, obviously sensing that something was off between Federico and I. He kept glancing over at me, and when he would, I'd proceed to shove a mouthful of dinner into my mouth to allow me to keep my eyes downcast. Out of everyone in the entire world, the only person who was able to get the secrets out of me with a simple look was my father. It had always been that way.<p>

Finally, as the meal was coming to a close, Federico took a deep, shaky breath and straightened in his seat, clearing his throat. "Everyone," he started, drawing everyone elses attention to him. I put down my fork and took a deep breath, knowing the worst was about to come. "I have to tell you all something...that I should have told you all earlier."

The table grew very serious as Federico paused to look for his words, the panic rising slowly in his eyes.

Amelia put a hand on his shoulder. "Honey, before you say anything, I want to make an announcement myself." She smiled so brightly that my stomach dropped. Oh no... "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but you've been so stressed this week with work and whatnot so I'd figured it could wait till tonight." My hand was already cupped around my mouth as I guessed at what she was getting at. _Oh God, you and your sick humor_. "I'm pregnant!" Amelia announced with a giggle and excited little jumps. Everyone exploded in excited congratulations and chatter. Everyone except Federico and I, who were staring at each other wide eyed over the table. Federico had gone completely pale, his eyes blank as his mouth hung open slightly. Amelia had bent over and pressed an excited kiss to his brow, but he couldn't share the enthusiasm. Soon, the entire family noticed that Federico had frozen in his spot, staring directly at me.

"Honey?" Amelia gave Federico a half smile. "Isn't this great, honey?"

Time seem to freeze for a moment, but I could still see the small trembles that quaked Federico's body. In what seemed like slow motion, I looked over to my father who no longer looked excited and was pinning his prying gaze upon me. I nearly broke right then, switching my gaze back upon my brother who hadn't moved an inch.

Then his mouth opened a bit wider. "I cheated on you," he whispered.

Nobody moved. Nobody said anything.

"What?" My mother had been the one to whisper it.

Federico broke down then. With tears streaming down his face, he explained how he had gone out to the bar with Narina, and, both of them drunk, went back to her house since it was closer, and when he meant to simply sleep it off on the couch, he ended up sleeping with her. Amelia had moved away from him during the explanation, and as he professed his apologies to her, sobbing like I hadn't seen him do since we were children.

Then all hell broken loose. Amelia had slapped Federico and was out of the room, crying herself. My mother had followed after Amelia. Petruccio had disappeared suddenly, and my father had started screaming at Federico, slamming his fists into the table. I couldn't latch on to any of their words—I was lost in the maelstrom of anguish and anger. The only thing I knew I had to do was make sure that Narina wouldn't completely lose her job.

Finally, words started to make sense. "Federico, you have disappointed me and I am ashamed to call you my own flesh and blood!" He was shouting, anger making him say words he did not mean. "How could you let something so unprofessional happen! You know how important this company is to our family!"

"Father..." I started, standing from my seat.

His fire filled eyes landed on me. "And you, Ezio! I expected more from you!" Of course he knew that I had known. Keeping this from us is nearly just as bad as the act of it! We are supposed to be a family that is united and true! How is it that one girl has torn us all apart?" He looked between the two of us, trying to decide which one he was more disgusted with. Federico would even meet his gaze, his head bowed and small sobs shaking his body. After a small silence, Father lifted his chin a bit higher. "She's gone," he said, voice full of authority. "Narina is fired."

"No," I said firmly, setting my face hard as stone. My father seemed surprised at me rejection of his word, but I kept my face strong. "We can compromise. I understand that she can't work in the same building, dad, but we can't throw her out on her own. We've all made stupid decisions in our lives, but you know how much Narina depends on her job. Transfer her somewhere else at least." My Father opened his mouth to argue, but I quickly continued. "If you fire her out of nowhere, the employees will begin to suspect foul play. If you transfer her, it'll seem more of a business matter than a personal matter." Desperately, I dug through my last resorts to find more reasons. "She's a hard worker, and she's brought a lot to our company." I swallowed back the sudden fear that I wasn't going to be able to convince him, judging from his placid expression. "She's a part of this family too, and you know it."

After staring at me for a moment, my father shifted his gaze back to his eldest son, who was now leaned back in his chair, staring at him with puffy, red eyes, shame written all over Federico's face. Sighing, my father finally looked back at me. "Fine, and thank you, Ezio. I nearly lost my sense. Narina is a hard worker, but that still does not cure the situation." He thought for a moment. "There is another building that could use her determination, but it will not be our building. It should work well."

"That'll be fine," Ezio agreed. "Thank you."

"I don't need your thanks," father replied to me tartly, not about to let me off to easily.

"So, where will she work now?" I wondered. "North building? The building down in the east?"

"No." My father's eyes darkened. "Someplace where I am sure there will be no problem. She'll start there in two weeks. Get her out of the office by Tuesday. We'll talk details later." He turned to my brother then, done discussing matters with me. "Federico, I must speak with you." Nodding, my older brother limply pushed himself up, prepared to get the ass-chewing of his life. I sat back down and watched as the two left, heading for the study down the hall. I took a deep breath and rubbed my face wearily. I had saved Narina's job. But for the damage to the family, had it really been worth it?

* * *

><p>Swinging open my apartment door, and flipping on the lights I walked in slowly and heard the door click behind me.<p>

"You know where the couch is," I mused, throwing off my jacket and putting it on the kitchen counter. "Make yourself at home, Fed."

"Thanks again, Ezio." My older brother slouched past me, heading for the living room. "It's good to know you got my back even when I fucked up."

"Of course, and I always will."

Before Federico disappeared through the archway to the living room, he turned and looked at me for a long moment. "Do you think everything will work out fine?"

I wasn't entirely sure, but Federico needed the convincing anyway. I leaned back against the counter, kicking off my shoes. "Of course. Narina still has a job, and Amelia will understand with time."

Federico shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

I knew what he meant, but I didn't want to think about that right now. "Goodnight, brother." I turned down the hall to my bedroom, closing the door and sighing loudly. The darkness greeted me, a harsh reminder of where I was headed. My feet suddenly felt like they were made out of lead, and I had to drag myself to my bed. Sitting down at the edge, I rubbed at my face, feeling my stubble prick at my skin. It was due time for a shave, but I felt like it didn't matter anymore. The phone in my pocket drew my attention with it's suddenly burdening weight. Pulling it out, I pulled up my contacts list and scrolled down the list until I saw the name "Na-na". Sighing, I selected the name and held the phone to my ear. The playback tone was one of the silly pop songs that had became insanely popular despite its ridiculous lyrics. Narina's favorite.

"Hey, Ezio." She answered suddenly. "What's up?"

She sounded so normal, so weight-free. How was she able to bottle it all up inside? "Just got back from dinner," I muttered, leaning my elbows on my knees.

A pause. "What's the damage? Am I fired?"

"No." I ran my fingers through my hair. "You're being transferred."

"Is that your doing?"

A small smile filled my lips, but it wasn't happy. "Yeah."

"Was your dad mad?"

"Yeah."

A sigh came through the line. "How's Federico?"

"Ah, well." I swallowed back the emotions wadding in his throat. "Amelia told all of us at dinner before Federico spilled the beans that she's pregnant." No noise came from the other line for a long moment. "Narina?" I asked. "Hello?"

"Sorry," she breathed back. "I just nearly vomited." Then she was sobbing and I suddenly felt like shit, like _I_had been the one to wrong her. "I feel so fucking bad," she whispered in a blubbering mess. "I deserve to be fired and kicked out of all of your lives!"

"Shh," I whispered soothingly, wishing I could be with her to comfort her properly. "No, it's fine, Narina. Amelia just wanted some time to think, so Federico is at my place tonight. She was upset at first, but she just wants some time to think. They won't break up, I promise."

Narina sniffed. "You sure?"

"I'm positive."

Breathing out, Narina seemed to calm down, her voice returning back to normal. "Okay, so, where am I working now?"

Closing my eyes, I didn't want to tread these waters just yet. "Well," I cleared my throat, "you'll be starting at the new place in two weeks, and you're going to be moved out of our building by Tuesday."

"He wants me out that fast, huh?"

"Yeah." Breathing in deep, I scratched at my chin. "You need to start packing up your apartment too. I'll help you out."

I'm sure the pause was used to register what I had just said. "Wait...my apartment?" She nervously laughed. "Where...where am I working, exactly?"

I was staring at the far wall blankly, seeing if there was anyway I could make the truth of my answer just disappear. When no solutions came to me, I whispered, "Los Angeles."

"Oh." A long pause. "Oh. Like, California's Los Angeles?"

"Is there any other?"

"I...I..." Narina laughed again, more of a hysteric noise. "That's across the entire country!"

"I know," I whispered. "It's to make sure there are no further problems." I closed my eyes again, trying to store all my emotions away. "I'll visit you all the time, I swear," I whispered.

"Los Angeles." She suddenly sounded like a person who had suffered from amnesia and she had no idea where the city was.

I'm not sure how long I sat there, listening to the silent line, before she spoke again. "Th-thanks for everything you did for me Ezio. I owe you so much."

"I wish I could have done more, Na-na. I promise, everything will be okay."

"Yeah." Her voice was barely audible. "Yeah. I have to go now."

"Okay. Bye, Narina." The line went dead before I had finished my sentence.

I could imagine my little Narina, curled up on her bed, clutching her cellphone to her trembling lips as tears streamed down her flushed face, her world crumbling around her, and the glue that had stuck it together all the years before was now sending her away. There were no words that I could have used to convince my father to send Narina to a closer work location to New York. His mind had been set and there was no other way.

Putting my phone on the bedside table, I laid back down on my bed, thinking back to the day when I had first met Narina, sitting by herself in the University's library. She had a giant book of Shakespeare in front of her, reading the lines intently. With my college mind set, I immediately targeted her as my next conquest and approached her, sitting on the opposite side of her. I think I knew from the first moment she gazed up from that book up at me that I would never get to sleep with her. She was just too...everything for me to handle. And no matter how long I tried to hold onto her to try and figure her out, I had always known that she was going to slip out of my hold too, and live life just beyond my reach.

Groaning, I unbuttoned my jeans and kicked them off to the side of the bed, throwing off my shirt, ripping the buttons, so I was in my boxers. Too exhausted to find legitimate pajama pants, I spread out on my bed and buried my face in my pillow, falling asleep and momentarily forgetting why I was so tired in the first place.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading, and please review! :3<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**So, this chapter kinda pulled itself together in a matter of two days. Which is okay. It was nice to write about it.  
>I've kinda been on this nostalgic ride where I terribly miss Ezio and Narina. It saddens me. :(<strong>

**Thanks for the reviews!:  
>shippolove844<br>Guest  
>sofarsogood99901<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>THE ORANGE COMPLICATION<strong>

The tape made a very unattractive noise as I stretched it out, taping the box shut. Sighing, I put the packing tape aside and leaned against the desk, finding it hard to concentrate on anything at all.

"Want me to get that for you?" Turning, I gazed up at a suited up Ezio leaning in my office door, a lazy smile on his lips.

I waved a hand towards the box, sighing. "Please."

Ezio walked into the room and heaved the box into his arms. "Is this the last of it all?"

Nodding, I leaned back on the now empty desk. "Yeah."

Ezio stared at me a long moment, his smile gone, before he turned and walked out of the office. Sighing, I rubbed my forehead and pushed off of the desk, pacing the empty office that no longer belonged to me.

"Narina!" I turned to see one of the other office girls, one of my best work friends, named Caterina. She was frowning and had her arms spread wide for a hug. "I can't believe you're being transferred all the way across the United States!"

"Yeah," I managed as I hugged her. "It's crazy."

"And so unexpected! It's like they're just doing it to send you away!" I nearly choked at the words and felt a wave of tears that I had thought would have already passed. Caterina held me away and smiled at me warmly. "You'll have to come back to visit, promise?"

"Yeah, of course," I said, forcing a smile.

"Ugh, I wonder where the boss is—he probably wanted to say goodbye to you too. Aren't you two friends outside of the office?"

At the mention of Federico, I looked away from her, pacing around the room again, my heels clicking loudly on the floor. "Yeah, but...I'll get to say bye to him later."

Caterina smiled at me before she gasped and turned to run out of the room, staying something about printing copies. On her way out of the door, she nearly ran into Ezio to was returning from taking the boxes down to the lobby to be shipped. They awkwardly maneuvered around each other, avoiding eye contact. They did have romantic history that didn't end very well. When she was gone, Ezio stepped into the office and cleared his throat, messing with his tie.

"So," he started, dropping his hand, "we're leaving tomorrow, right?"

"'We'?" I tilted my head at him, folding my arms.

Ezio grinned. "I'm not going to let you go to Los Angeles by yourself without a place to stay. I'll apartment hunt with you until you find something."

"Don't you have a job to do?" I pointed out.

Ezio shrugged. "I haven't used my vacation days this year yet."

"You don't have to do this for me," I muttered, turning away. "You've always had me under your wing from day one. Don't you think it's time I try something out on my own?"

Ezio didn't say anything for a moment. But then his hand was on my shoulder, turning me around, making me face him. He was deadly serious, his golden eyes comforting, but truthful all in the same moment.

"You'll be on your own in Los Angeles, Na-na. And until you have a place to crash there, I won't let you wallow around aimlessly."

Sighing, I let my head hang. "Right. Okay."

I found myself snuggled into his chest, my nose buried in the red tie that hung down the front of his jacket. He didn't say a word as his arms wrapped around me, holding me close and forever safe in his arms. Closing my eyes and turning into him, I knew that the gesture was a promise that he'd always be there for me, even when I was "on my own." As I put my arms around his waist, I felt my eyes brim with tears, so I pressed harder into him to quell the urge.

The door opened and I immediately tried to push away from Ezio, but he held me steady. I turned my head to gaze at who had walked in, and I was suddenly overcome with fear and sadness all in the same moment. Giovanni stood in the door, watching Ezio and I with a guarded gaze.

"I see that you are all done with packing," he mused.

It had been a long weekend since the last I had seen Giovanni, and the contrast between his happy-self from the week before and the angry one facing me at that moment was extremely noticeable. I pulled away from Ezio, lowering my gaze. "Uh, yes. I was just on my way out actually." I glanced at Ezio for a brief moment before I tried to slip past Giovanni. The older man caught a hold of my arm, stopping me before I could make my escape. I was forced to look up at him, even though the movement was more out of habit than anything. His eyes had softened a little bit and he looked genuinely sad for a moment.

"I'm sorry that it has had to come down to this," he whispered to me, his mouth dipping downwards. "But I cannot take any chances, and you must understand that."

"Of course," I agreed, nodding. "I completely understand, sir, and I do not blame you for anything."

Giovanni pulled me into a small hug then. "Be careful," he murmured into my ear. "Although I am very disappointed in both you and Federico right now, know that I will always love you, Narina."

I couldn't stop the tears this time around, and I quickly brushed my face against Giovanni's nice suit, smearing my tears into it, but not finding enough in me to care that I could possibly stain the fabric. With a fatherly kiss to the top of my head, Giovanni pushed me away and nodded solemnly at me. "Keep in touch."

"Of course." I wiped at my teary eyes, turning and gazing at Ezio again. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Tonight," Ezio amended, grinning despite the tears dancing in my eyes. "I want to discuss other things with you."

Nodding, although not sure what he wanted to discuss, I turned and walked out of the office. As I walked through the hall, heading to the elevator, I was stopped by many other coworkers who gave their teary goodbyes and hugs. It was all becoming too much. Saying a last goodbye to the receptionist at the front desk, I slipped out of the building and slipped into the waiting taxi cab, preparing to take me back home. Shifting all of the boxes and bags in the seat next to me, I gave out the directions and settled back, staring out the window at the skyscraper that I had formerly worked in. The taxi pulled into traffic and I watched the building slip away, disappearing out of my view, and now out of my life. I had spent that past two years working in that office, and it had been, strangely, a home away from home. Sighing, I pulled out my phone and began thumbing through the apps, trying to find something that I could distract myself with.

"Did you get fired?" The cab driver asked, completely innocent and joking, throwing a glance back at me.

I looked up from my phone. "I should have been, but no."

That ended the conversation and I continued to look down at my phone, wanting to suddenly disappear off the edge of the earth.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was spent lazing around and packing up things that I wouldn't need in the next week. When dinner time rolled around, I ordered take out Chinese food, curled up on my small, two person couch, and flipped on a comedy movie to try and make myself feel better. Of course, it didn't really help—every joke seemed rather bland and utterly stupid. Groaning, I put the empty take-out box on the coffee table and rolled off of the couch and onto my feet. Walking into the kitchen, I opened up one of the oak cupboards and pulled out a clear glass. Putting it on the marble top counter, I got into the fridge to drag out the carton of milk.<p>

But I stalled when my eyes locked onto a certain fruit that was sitting on the bottom shelf. I felt my face fall into anger when I gazed upon it, and I angrily reached down and grabbed it, intent on throwing the damned orange away. As I shut the fridge and was heading over to the garbage, there was a sudden loud knock on my door. Weirded out that someone was at my door so late, I placed the orange on the counter next to the glass and went to the door. I peeked through the little hole, and nearly groaned out loud when I saw a distorted Ezio face peering right back at me. I realized then that I had forgotten to call him which is why he was showing up at my apartment. Sighing, pulling out the chain lock, I swung open the door and stared up at my best friend.

"Whaddya want?" I muttered, showing him that I was in no mood for company.

Despite my sternness, Ezio waltzed right by me and swooped into the kitchen, his collared shirt unbuttoned, his tie loosened, obviously just getting off of work. "You never called, so I took the initiative and came here to talk to you."

Rolling my eyes, I closed the door, locked it and followed him back into the apartment. "How considerate of you," I mused, aware that I was wearing very skimpy pajamas. I hadn't been expecting company.

He had stopped in the kitchen at the counter, the orange in his hand. My stomach dropped as I watched the fruit roll in his large hands, my mind immediately going to a darker place. He looked over at me, his golden eyes gleaming. "Were you making orange juice, or were you expecting me?"

His boyish grin fished me out of my fantasies and I marched up to him, ripped the fruit out of his hands, and continued to throw it away.

"Aw," he whined. "Waste of fruit!"

"Cut the shit," I snapped, turning and glaring at him. "What do you want? I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now, okay."

Seeing that I wasn't up for his usual teasing, Ezio leaned back against the counter. "Well, I was going to ask if you're going to stay in LA once we find you an apartment this week, but judging from the state of your apartment, I'm guess no."

"I don't have to work for two more weeks." I reached around Ezio to get my cup, walking back over to the fridge to get my milk. "I might as well take it easy instead of waste it all moving."

"Hm." Ezio pushed off of the counter and meandered into the living room, irritating me that he acted like he owned the place.

"What do you really have to say, Ezio?" I asked, yelling so he could hear me as I poured the milk. He didn't respond and I put the milk carton back in the fridge. Taking the full glass of milk, I followed after him. "'Cause if that's all you wanted to know, you can leave now."

I expected him to be sitting on the couch watching whatever movie was playing, but when I walked in, he was standing at the giant window that looked over the city, his eyes on the lights from the many buildings. Swigging back a mouthful of milk, I collapsed on the couch. "Did you hear me, buddy? I wanna be alone. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He still didn't say a thing, so I turned in the couch at looked over at him. He was still staring out of the window, his gaze suggesting that he was in a far off place in his mind. Sighing, I pushed myself up off of the couch and walked over to him. "Ezio. I said get out," I tried again, tugging on his sleeve to pull him out of his reverie. At my tug, he turned towards me slowly. Something about the way he looked at me made me freeze. What had he been thinking about to make him look so...so...helpless? Thinking that I might have hurt his feelings with my harsh words, I let my face fall into concern.

The next thing I knew was that Ezio was bending over me, his forehead pressed to mine, the tip of his nose falling against my nose. His lips were barely brushing against mine. Was really going to kiss me? His breaths were even and hot, falling against my parted lips, allowing me to taste him a little. My breaths, on the other hand, were growing unsteady and rapid. My eyes fluttered shut.

Shattering glass made me gasp and pull away, cold liquid splattering against my leg. I glanced down to see the glass of milk shattered at my feet, the milk sloshed across the wood floor and soaking into the rug.

"Oh shit." Ezio took a step forward. "Here, let me..."

"I think you should leave," I whispered. "I want to be alone."

Ezio didn't seem surprised to hear my request. "Let me just clean this up."

"No. Leave." I stepped around the broken glass and spreading puddle of milk. "I'll get it."

Ezio was quiet, following behind me as I went to the kitchen to grab a towel.

Not understanding why he wasn't leaving, I turned towards him, looking him in the eye. "I'll call you tomorrow. The flight leaves at 7:00 sharp."

The look he was giving me made me worried that he was going to lean in again. But then he smiled like my best friend would, and agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Na-na. Don't cut yourself on that glass."

"I'll try not to. Have a good night."

He left, the door closing loudly behind him.

After I had mopped up the worst of the spilled milk, leaving the rag in the sink. When I went back to pick up the shards of glass, I was careful and gathered them in a little container, successfully not cutting myself. When I went to throw the shards away, however, my eye caught onto the lovely orange color that was now resting in the plastic bag. Throwing the glass away, I walked back to the living room, collapsed on the couch, and started to cry.

I couldn't help but remember the phrase that my mother had told me my entire life:

There's no use in crying over spilled milk.

* * *

><p>I spent the entire flight sleeping, avoiding any conversation that Ezio wanted to have. As soon as we were sitting in our cheap coach seats, Ezio complaining about the lack of space, I plugged in my I-phone and snuggled down in my seat, falling asleep after not too long.<p>

Ezio had to shake me awake, pulling out the ear bud from my ear. "We'll be landing soon," he muttered. Groaning, I rubbed my eyes and sat up straight, removing the other bud from my other ear. Putting everything away in my carry-on, I then buckled down for the landing. Ezio kept his gaze away as the plane touched down, almost as if he found something interesting outside of the window.

As we walked through the airport, Ezio offered to carry my bags in a very gentlemanly manner. I was saddened to notice that, since the night before, Ezio had been acting different. I didn't really understand why—to be perfectly honest, Ezio and I had kissed before, although it was usually childish and the result from a night of way too many drinks. But maybe that's why it had been different—there had been no excuse for the way we nearly kissed the night before. Not to mention the confusion that came with it.

Handing Ezio my bag, who slung the strap over one shoulder, I whipped out my phone. "Okay, so, first things first, we need to check into a hotel."

"Right."

I pulled up a map of the area, looking over what choices we had that were affordable too. "Hmm...the cheapest one is just three blocks away. We could—."

"No, we're not staying in some lame ass hotel," Ezio retorted, throwing me a disapproving look. "Look, the hotel will be my treat—don't worry about the pricing."

"Ezio," I objected, frowning. "I don't like it when you spend money on me, and you know that."

"Don't worry about it," Ezio repeated, ending the conversation, reaching over and grabbing my phone to look at his select choices. It only took him a moment. "This one." He showed me which one he wanted.

My brow furrowed, and I threw him a glare. "Ezio, that's a five star hotel! There's no way—."

"Yes, there is a way, and we're taking it." Ezio gave me back my phone, raising a brow at me that challenged me to try and argue. Rolling my eyes, I put my phone in my purse and followed him out of the airport building. The sun was high in the sky, dipping into the western horizon. It was too hot, I wasn't used to this kind of weather at all! We walked down the sidewalk for a few minutes, until Ezio waved down a taxi. As Ezio put our things in the trunk of the taxi, I sat in the cab and told the driver where our destination was. With a big sigh, Ezio climbed into the cab next to me, telling the driver that we were okay to go.

I slanted a look at him. "So, since you feel the need to handle the situation by yourself, what's the plan today?"

"Well, I was looking on the internet last night," he explained, ignoring my jibe and pulling out his phone, "and I found the addresses to a few apartments that we should look at. And before you start complaining, I made sure that you would be able to live in them comfortably and affordably."

A pout graced my lips. "Well, thanks." Turning away, I looked out the window at the towers of buildings rushing by. If I didn't know any better, I could have fooled myself into thinking that I was still in New York. The ride didn't last much longer, the driver pulling off to the side in front of a grand hotel. Before I could even think about it, Ezio already had the money forked over to the driver. Saying a quick thanks to the driver, I hopped out of the cab and slammed the door shut, glaring at Ezio.

"Don't you dare think that you're going to pay for everything on this trip," I snapped as he lifted the trunk hood, grabbing out luggage.

"Buy dinner tonight then," Ezio offered, grunting as he pulled out his suitcase. "I swear, Narina, it's supposed to be cool when someone else pays for things."

"It makes me feel like a mooch and a bitch!" I argued, grabbing my stuff that he had pulled out.

"Whatever." Ezio closed the cab's trunk, waved to the cab driver, who drove off. The argument must have been over, for Ezio grabbed his stuff and swooped past me, heading into the lobby entrance. Huffing, I followed after him, seeing that he wasn't going to be gentlemanly anymore and carry my stuff too.

It was cool in the lobby, and I hung back behind Ezio as he went to the front desk, asking if he could get rooms. Glancing around the lobby, I frowned at the realization that it was far too expensive, and Ezio shouldn't have been wasting money on a place we weren't going to be in all that much.

"Yes, that sounds nice," I heard Ezio say, charming smile in his voice. Annoyed, I looked over at him flirting with the receptionist, who was young, and blushing.

She caught my eye, looked away and cleared her throat. "Well, would you like to have the Honeymoon Suite, or just a normal suite?"

Appalled, I whipped around and nearly screeched out a "what!" but Ezio was shaking his head. "The normal suite should be fine."

"Alright." She swiped his credit card, asking him to sign a receipt. "You're room is on the 12th floor, room 1208." She handed Ezio his card and a room key. "I hope you and your wife have a great stay."

I don't think I could have looked more pissed or disapproving even if I tried. As we walked down the hall towards the elevator, I turned on Ezio, my brow angrily furrowed, my frown deep. "You told her we were married?" I hissed.

"We got a discount out of it, Miss Money-pincher," Ezio replied, not at all bothered with the acid in my tone. "Besides, who cares what she thinks?"

Huffing, I turned away, ending the conversation. It didn't seem very fair how Ezio somehow always won the argument, but that had been something that I had gotten used to over the years.

There was another person boarding the elevator, so we all squeezed into the small area, clicking the buttons to our floors. The man got off at the 6th floor, and an awkward silence settled between Ezio and I. I couldn't decide if I was mad at him or if there just wasn't anything to say. And since when did this awkwardness come between us?

We finally reached the 12th floor, and Ezio took the lead down the hall, looking at the room numbers on the walls next to the doors. "Room 1208. Here we are." He stopped and stuck the room key in the scanner. When the light turned green, he took out the key, pulled down the handle and pushed into the room.

I went to follow him inside, but I stopped short just outside of the door. The room was huge! I had never even seen a hotel room that had so much space before! It was covered in classy decorations, a classical theme, fancy furniture and expensive paintings. It had to been as big as three normal hotel rooms combined! And I suddenly felt very inadequate, like I didn't deserve to even set foot in the room. So I stood at the door way, awed.

Ezio sat his luggage by the long, leather couch, looking back at me. His brow arched. "Narina, what are you doing?"

"Ezio! How much did this cost?" I squeaked out.

"None of your business," he replied, flopping down on the couch, relaxing back in the cushions.

"This is too nice!" I argued again, still refusing to take a step into the room. "We're only staying here for a day or two! We don't need a suite!"

"It's not a big deal, Narina. I know it's hard for you to wrap your mind around, but my family is very, very rich."

Of course I knew that. But I never thought about it because it didn't seem very fair to me. I always had gotten by the skin of my teeth when it had come to money. Even with my job at the Auditore Inc., the rent and groceries were so much that I barely had enough to live by. Even then, I refused to be taken care of. As much as it wasn't fair for me to struggle with finances, it was just as unfair for me to be mooching off of someone else's money. And lazy on my part. Work and money went hand in hand for me—I didn't understand the concept of inheritance that the Auditore's received since the corporation had been running for a hundred years.

Finally sucking it in, I picked up my luggage and dragged it into the room, flopping the stuff down on the ground next to the door. As the door clicked shut, I looked across the giant room. There was a big window that overlooked the city, edged with flowing curtains. The kitchen area was in the far corner, an island counter with polished marble tops. An entertainment center was adjacent to the kitchen, a huge flat screen TV perched upon a dark polished stand. The area where I was standing seemed to be a sitting room of sorts, the long couch Ezio sat on sitting in front of mimicry of a stone fireplace, where a computer desk sat. In the middle of the room was a square table with four chairs pushed under it.

I frowned upon a realization. "Where's the bed?" I asked hesitantly.

Ezio looked around, unconcerned. "Probably through that door." He pointed with his thumb toward the door next to the kitchen.

"Isn't that the bathroom?" I walked across the room to the door.

"The bathroom is probably in the bedroom," Ezio nonchalantly said, leaning back into the couch again. "Have you never stayed in a suite before?"

Pausing with my hand on the door, I turned to look at Ezio. He was suddenly being very condescending. And very assholeish. He knew how I felt about money and how I've always struggled with it. Anger washed over me—I didn't understand why he had to be such a dick sometimes. "No, I haven't. Imagine that!" Flinging open the door, I stomped into the bedroom and was nearly knocked over again. Everything was too luxurious! The bed seemed to be ten time bigger than necessary, covered with a mountain of pillows and fancy stitched blankets. The room was big as well, another couch and TV tucked in the corner of the room. Sure enough, on the other side of the room was a door that was halfway open, and within I could see a porcelain toilet. Too afraid to check out the bathroom, I flopped onto the bed, realizing something else that was very important.

"I call dibs on the bed," I called to Ezio.

He appeared in the doorway a moment later, arms folded and a look of annoyance on his face. "Narina, we can share the bed. I'm not going to do anything to you."

Although I knew he meant it as a reassurance, for some reason, I took it as a personal blow. "Thanks a lot, douche bag," I snapped, standing from the bed and pushing past him.

I heard his angry sigh. "Look, we'll argue about this later. Right now, we need to find you an apartment."

As if on cue, my stomach wretched out an unattractive growl. "I'm kinda thinking we need to get something to eat first, dude."

"Fine." He sighed again. "Where do you want to go?"

"Pizza," is all I said, stopping in front of the many mirrors in the room to fix my hair and clothes.

"There's lots of pizza places around here, Narina," Ezio replied. "Choose one."

"I don't care. Which ever place is closest."

A silence settled in the room then as I patted down my wavy, dark hair and wiped away some smudged make-up under my eye. I watched Ezio walk behind me through the mirror, looking a little weird in jeans and a slim fit t-shirt. I had usually seen him at the office all suited up. Looking at myself in my dark blue skinny jeans, bright red flats, and a layered white tank with little frills at the shoulders, I realized that it was strange to not see myself in normal clothes too. I had been working so much lately.

Following Ezio out of the room, I began to wonder just what kind of world I was missing since I had spent so much time with my job.

* * *

><p>We ate at a pizza place just down the block, still in a silence and a tension building between us. As we were finishing up the meal, Ezio pulled out his phone and opened up a note.<p>

"I think we should check out these places first," he mused, handing over the phone so I could look at the address.

"Alright," I replied, handing handing him back his phone. The address wasn't important right now, but whatever. Ezio suddenly stood up from the table and walked across the restaurant to step outside, pulling out his phone, dialing a number and starting to talk on it. He was just like his father—couldn't leave work behind for anything.

After a few minutes of me awkwardly sitting there alone, sipping on my drink and picking at the undesirable crusts of the pizza, Ezio came back in and sat down, heaving a big sigh as he settled.

"Business call?" I wondered, playing with my straw.

"I suppose you can say that." He bit into the last piece of pizza, leaning back in the seat.

"You almost done?" I asked, sitting up straight, reaching for my bag.

Ezio shook his head. "Nope. I kinda want some dessert."

I frowned. "Does this place even _have_ dessert?"

"Sure." He waved down our waitress (of which he was throwing very unnecessary grins at) and asked for some chocolate cake of some sort. We had to wait ten extra minutes for that to be done, and when we did get it, Ezio scarfed it all down and didn't even offer me a bite. Pouting, I quickly threw down some money before he could and dragged him out of the joint, finding myself growing more and more irritable with this man.

As he licked some chocolate from his thumb, he reached out and stopped me from waving down a taxi. "Hold on for a minute."

"Why? Don't we have apartments to look at?"

He didn't answer, his eyes on the traffic. After a moment, he smiled. "There it is."

"There what is?" I turned to look where he was turned. A sleek, silver car pulled up to the curb, a 2012 Ford Focus. Finally understanding, I sighed, reached up and rubbed my forehead. "You just couldn't ride taxi's today?"

"Hell no!" Ezio exalted, handing a wad of cash to the driver that had stepped out of the vehicle. "I feel more comfortable with my driving, anyway."

Not about to argue with him for once, I stepped forward and opened the passenger side, sliding in. Leave it to Ezio to rent a car for a matter of one day. The interior was way nice, everything leather and dark. He just had to have everything extravagant, didn't he?

Once we got situated in the car, he pulled up his GPS on his phone and typed in the address of the apartments. As we took off, I looked out the window at the tall buildings, telling myself over and over that I was going to have to get used to those buildings. With the AC blasted all the way up, I almost forgot that it was sweltering hot there, too. I'd have to buy lighter clothes. Turning and looking at Ezio, I saw that he, too, was looking at the buildings and streets. I realized that he was judging the city and how safe I would be here. He was always on the look out, even when we were annoyed with each other. Turning back to the window, I began to realize that life was going to be hard without Ezio in it.

* * *

><p>The first few apartments that we looked at where duds. The first one was too small—not by my standards, but by Ezio's, and he ushered me out of it before I could even argue. The second one was a little run down, and although it was pretty roomy and yet cozy, the second I walked into the bathroom as saw the gunk wedged in the corners of the tub, I bid the place adieu. The sun was already setting by the time we were driving to the third apartment. By then, both of us were not only irritated with each other, but basically the whole world. Let's just choose a place and go home, god dammit. The third wasn't all too promising either, the manager of the apartment complex giving me creepy vibes in his white wife-beater and shiny bald head, toothless grin. When he asked us if we were moving in together, I jumped to the idea that Ezio and I were married and told him we were newlyweds looking for our first place. He seemed shot down, and I quickly left the place, knowing that it wouldn't be worth it to live there.<p>

Ezio, on the other hand, was pleased that I had used the excuse, even teasing me about it. "Oh, so when I say we're married, it's so twisted that you can yell at me, but when _you_ say it, it's 100% okay!"

Rubbing my forehead, thankful for the cool blast of air from the AC, I looked over at Ezio. "He was creepy, okay? I'd rather have him think we're a thing than him thinking he can get up on my goods."

That made Ezio burst up laughing, making me frown even more.

Trying to change the subject, I reached over and whacked his shoulder. "That was our last place, wasn't it?"

Catching a hold of himself, Ezio chuckled one more time, and shook his head. "No. There's still another place."

"I thought you said—."

"I wanted it to be a surprise." He smiled at me. "I think you'll really like this place."

"You couldn't have shown me this place first? Would have saved us a lot of time." I folded my arms and slouched in my seat like a five year old would.

"And missed out on the opportunity of you telling some creepy old man that we were married? Never!" He started laughing again, extremely tickled by the situation.

We drove for a good ten minutes, heading out of the main part of town. About to complain that this place was too far, Ezio slowed down and pointed out the window. "There's were you'll be working."

I gazed out the window and stared up at the tall building. I was much like the building back in New York, but I kept telling myself that it could never amount to it. But it was pretty magnificent. It had the big "Auditore Inc." words upon the building, so many stories up, lit up by the dying sunlight and the growing city lights. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"And check this out," Ezio continued, pulling away and driving another block down before taking a right. "These apartments are just right here." He pulled to the curb, parked the car, and gestured to the brick building just outside the window. I stared up at them wondering if the search would finally be over.

We walked into the building, and it was very clean and bright inside, plants everywhere in the lobby area. A woman was at the counter, reading a magazine before she looked up at us. She was an older woman, but still extremely beautiful with dark hair that waved down her back. Smiling brightly, she put the magazine away.

"Well, hello there!" She greeted. "What can I do for you two?"

"Um, I was hoping that I could check out an apartment to see if I could start renting," I mused, smiling back at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we..." She paused, looking over us again. "Wait, you must be Narina, right?" I nodded. "Oh, then welcome! Mr. Auditore here told me to hold our last apartment for you to come look at!"

I gazed up at Ezio in wonderment, amazed that he went through all the trouble to actually call this place and hold a room just so I could come check it out. He didn't return my look, but I could tell by the smug look in his eyes that he was already saying "you're welcome."

"Now it's up on the fourth floor if that's okay," the woman mused as she walked out from behind the counter.

"Oh, certainly!" I mused, smiling for what seemed like the first time all day. "I don't mind."

"Great! Now follow me." She led us to the elevator tucked in the corner. As we rode up, she told me all about the apartment. "Now, it's a one bedroom apartment, but the view is wonderful and it's very clean. We make sure our renters take very good care of the place."

"Sweet!" I replied, getting very excited to see this place.

The elevator stopped and we all got off, walking down the hall. "Okay, so it's room D27," she announced, arriving at the door, using a key to twist the lock and open the door. "Go ahead, take a look around, and I'll be back in a few minutes to hear your decision! Mr. Auditore told me you would be very please with it, so take your time."

"Thank you," I said sincerely, smiling again. As she walked back down the hall, Ezio held open the door for me. It was dark inside the apartment, so I groped on the nearby wall to try the light switch. When I found it, I flipped on the lights and was immediately amazed. I stood in a small but adorable kitchen, every compact and tight for space, but still efficient. Further into the room was a small dining table that was tucked against a wall that wasn't connected to other walls, simply dividing two rooms. Taking a step inside, I moved my way through the empty place despite a few pieces of furniture here and there, and walked around the divide. There was a living room wide and open with three big windows that showed the city. Walking through the living area, I found myself in a long hallway, two doors on the right side with one on the left. The left door led to a small closet, probably used for coats and other storage. The first door on the right was the bathroom, a little small but very convenient for one person. There was no disgusting build up or stains, which was a relief. The next door was the bedroom, smaller than the living area, but big enough to satisfy. The closet was large and offered much promise.

Grinning, I turned from the closet to look back at Ezio, but he wasn't behind me anymore. Confused, I walked out of the bedroom and wandered the apartment, looking everything over again. I found Ezio standing by one of the windows in the living area, his face lit up from the lights outside.

Slowly I approached him, knowing what happened the last time I tried to fish him out of his daze.

"Do you like it?" he asked softly, keeping his gaze out on the city.

"It's perfect!" I said with an excited tone. "You were right about me loving this place! It's not too much, is it?"

"It's the same if not less than your apartment back in New York," he explained, turning his golden gaze to me.

"Sweet!" I turned from him and began to pace the room, looking it up and down. "It's the perfect size for me! I may have to get rid of a few things, but that'll just give me more money, I suppose." Excitement suddenly bubbled over and I giggled and did a little hop, wanting to move in right then. "This is amazing! Thank you so much, Ezio!"

"So, this is the place?"

"Definitely!" I spun around to face him, wanting to hug him and thank him a million times over. "The renter is so nice, too! This is the place!" To make sure I didn't fall to my urges, I twisted away and exalted an excited noise, gazing at the room again.

But then I felt a hand on my shoulder, turning me around. I was faced with a solemn faced Ezio, who stared at me with such seriousness that my giddiness was stuffed away with concern. His other hand grabbed onto my other shoulder, steadying me, holding me in one spot.

Then he kissed me.

Strangely enough, I wasn't all that surprised. I was almost expecting it; so much so, that I even responded nearly immediately, standing on my tip-toes to press into him while my arms wrapped up around his neck. His strong arms wrapped around my waist, holding me to him and his warmth. The kisses turned in a different direction than soft little pecks, morphing into a open-mouth, tongue touching mess.

Just as my fingers curled into his hair, a voice rang out. "So? What do you think?"

Panicking, I pushed away from Ezio who just as quickly let me go, taking a few steps back, distancing himself. Trying to avoid the awkwardness, I turned towards the divide. "It's perfect!" Turning and walking into the kitchen, the lady stood there with a wide smile, a small stack of papers in her hands.

"That's great! I knew you would say yes, so here are the papers that you'll need to sign."

I went through the whole process of filling out my information, using the little dining table as a surface. Ezio appeared not too long after and thanked the woman, shaking her hand. As I finished the last of the information, signing my name on the contract, I handed the lady back the papers with a large grin.

"Oh perfect!" She elaborated, looking over the papers. "Here's my business card if you want to call within the next few weeks and ask questions about moving in—speaking of which, when are you moving in exactly?"

"Oh, I start work in two weeks, but I'll probably start moving in things next week."

"Great!" She gave me the card and I looked at it, seeing that her name was Paula.

"Thanks again, Paula," I mused, shaking hands with her.

"You are most welcome, Narina. I'll be seeing you soon, then." She glanced at Ezio who stood silently by me. "Are you certain you two aren't moving it together?"

"Oh, no," I said calmly, trying to hide the rising panic inside. I reached over and patted his shoulder. "He has to stay in New York."

"Such a long way away." Paula smiled softly, like she had a secret. "I hope you'll be able to handle it."

"I will," I said convincingly, but wondering why she sounded so knowing of the situation.

* * *

><p>We left the apartment and climbed into the car without a word, this time a different tension building between us. We had to drive the car back to the renter place, and we hitched a ride in a taxi back to the hotel. Even when we arrived at the hotel, we didn't say a word and went to our room. I couldn't even complain about it anymore, and collapsed on the couch, kicking off my shoes and sighing loudly.<p>

"I'm hungry," Ezio mused, putting his shoes by the door.

"What you hungry for?" I asked, lounging out on the couch and reaching for the menu at the table side that suggested food.

Ezio didn't say anything for a moment, picking up the remote from the coffee table and turning on the TV, some crappy reality TV show appearing on the screen. "I kinda want some ramen."

I looked up from the menu of exquisite food, a smile appearing on my face. "We're sitting in a five star hotel, and you want ramen for dinner?"

He looked at me then, his eyes filled with a complexity that I couldn't quite comprehend. "Yeah, I would."

The first thing I did was stare at him in confusion, wondering what was going on with him lately. But then I smiled softly, put the menu aside and sat up. "You know what, that _does_ sound really good."

"I saw some for sell down in the lobby," Ezio offered, heading to the door. I quickly scrambled up and followed him out the door. Once we got down to the lobby, I realized that I had left my wallet in the room, but I had a dime in my pocket. So Ezio and I combined forces to pay for the one package of ramen that cost twenty cents and we went back upstairs. I was surprised that the room actually had pots and pans for us to cook with. As Ezio tried to find something acceptable to watch, I cooked up the ramen on the stove just the way I would make it for us back in college.

"Here you go, my good sir," I mused, handing Ezio a bowl of the hot soup.

"Thanks," he mused, smiling as he took the ramen in hand. He had found some comedy cartoon show that was extremely bad but super hilarious. We sat and watched it for the hour that it was on, laughing at the stupidity and making our own jokes. Soon, the show was over, and we were left watching some stand up comedian.

Ezio then yawned. "Ah, today has been a long day."

I took his bowl from the coffee table, standing from the couch. "You're getting old, Ezio," I commented, rinsing out the dishes. "It's only nine. We should go swimming or something."

He groaned, leaning back in the couch. "I don't want to. You're more than welcome to, though."

"Oh, you're no fun." I dried my hands off on a little face towel next to the sink.

"Eh," he muttered, brushing away my jibes. "I think I'm just going to take a shower and go to bed. I _am_ getting too old."

"Lame." I threw him a side glance. "But I get to shower first!" I made a mad dash to the bedroom, barely seeing Ezio flail on the couch to participate in the race, but I beat him to the luxurious bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me, grinning when he started pounding on the door. Ignoring his shouts through the door, I quickly undressed and turned on the heater. As the room heated up, I wrapped a towel around my body and braved going back out in the bedroom. Ezio was lounged out on the bed, laying against propped up pillows while looking at the TV. As I walked out into the room, he gave me an annoyed look which was immediately replaced with an interested look when he saw what I was wearing.

"No funny business," I snapped, walking across the room. "The bathroom is still mine."

"Fine, whatever." Ezio looked back to the TV, aiming the remote at it as the volume went higher, signifying that he was done talking to me. Frowning, I went to the other room to grab my bag and bring it back to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>I took a while in the shower, enjoying the rush of hot water, cleaning out my hair thoroughly, and shaving my legs. Once I got out, I felt like a million bucks, that I could take on this new world I was finding. But, much like Ezio, I felt suddenly very weary, and brushed my teeth as I toweled my hair as dry as I could get it. Changing into a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt, I walked out of the room with my bag in tow. Ezio was no longer in the room, but the TV was still blaring, so he had probably meandered to the other room. Putting my bag at the end of the bed, I began to dig through all of my stuff, trying to find my hair brush. Before I could find it, I felt a presence behind me, so I looked over my shoulder.<p>

I was faced with a bare chest, bulging, bronzed muscle. Looking up higher, I saw Ezio staring down at me, his gaze plundering and trying to pry into my thoughts. Trying to avoid that inviting look, I let my eyes fall down his body again, but I regretted it because I found myself enraptured with his ripped, taut stomach. I hadn't seen a shirtless Ezio since senior year in college, and he was a million times more fit than he was back then. He had a light trail of hair that dropped down the line of his stomach, disappearing at the edge of his pajama pants. Dirty thoughts inevitably ran through my mind, and I had to hurry and look back up at his eyes. He must have seen the change within my eyes, for a grin appeared on his face, one brow raised suggestively.

Deciding that this wasn't going to go down, I forced my own smile and turned away again, shaking my head and digging for my brush again.

But then I felt him leaning over me, his warm breaths on the wet tangles of my head. Finding something about it all too familiar, I spun around and stared up at him, smile gone as my brows furrowed. "What are you doing?"

He didn't say anything. He only stared down at me silently, studying and gauging. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable under his gaze, I dropped my eyes to the floor and shied away from him. When I felt his fingers pinch into the sleeve of my shirt, my mind went to a very strange place and I wanted to get away from it. Not here. Not now.

"Is this mine?" He asked, his voice reflecting the part of him I had been wanting to avoid, dark and foreboding.

"You gave it to me," I reminded him, leaning back on the bed.

"And you kept it?" I didn't like what his voice was implying.

Sitting down on the bed, I rolled over the covers until I was curled up on one side. "Yeah, I did. Are you showering or not?"

When I looked at him, he didn't seem very pleased that I had literally crawled from him. But then he calmly straightened and walked around the other side of the bed, flinging himself down onto the mattress. "No. I'll take one in the morning."

Seeing the situation was temporarily avoided, I straightened out and began to watch the TV, although I wasn't entirely paying attention to what was playing. Ezio had pulled out his phone, looking at the screen. "What are our plans for tomorrow?" He asked suddenly, crossing his ankles. "Are we going home?"

"Are you nuts?" I claimed, looking over at him. "If you are going to spend the money on a five-star hotel, we have to stay in it at_ least_ two days."

"I thought you'd say that," Ezio muttered, putting his phone back on the side desk.

It was always strange how well Ezio knew me. Strange, and somehow irritating. Huffing, I shifted around so that I could get under the covers, and curl up on my side facing away from Ezio. "I'm going to bed—can you turn down the TV?"

He didn't say anything, but the volume did end up dropping a few notches, and I relaxed in the bed, snuggling down into the pillow. I laid there for a minute, listening to the garble of words from the TV.

"We can leave tomorrow afternoon, I guess. That way you don't have to spend more money on another night."

"We get kicked out of here at noon, you know," he pointed out.

"Well, that's fine. We can go sight-seeing and shopping."

Ezio made a disgusted noise, muttered "fine, whatever" and then he was shifting on the bed, standing up and walking to the bathroom. I waited for a few minutes as I heard the toilet flush and then heard him brushing his teeth. As hard as I tried, I couldn't actually go to sleep, even if I was tired. So I laid there, trying to push my thoughts in the direction of sleep, listening as Ezio came out of the bathroom and climbed into the bed, the volume on the TV turning down lower.

I'm not sure how long I was laying there, eyes closed and trying to fool myself that I was asleep. But after a long time, the TV clicked off, the lamp to the side of the bed was extinguished, and a dark silence washed over the room as Ezio shifted around on his side of the bed. I stayed still and quiet, someone intently listening to his movement, trying to picture what we looked like right then. Were we both on opposite side of the bed, nearly falling off the edge? Or did we look like a normal set of two people, casually sleeping in the same bed? Either of them sounded extremely awkward, so I snuggled down further into the blankets and sighed, hoping sleep would come soon.

It couldn't have been more than a minute later that I felt the bed shift again and then warmth was wrapping around me. My eyes stayed closed, but my body automatically tensed. Ezio big, warm arm wrapped around my waist, his chest resting against my shoulder as I felt his breaths on my hair again. Thinking he was trying some funny business, I prepared to push him away and tell him to go sleep on the couch. But as he pulled me back to him, he stopped moving, let out a big breath that tousled my hair a bit, and relaxed.

Just to make sure nothing was going to happen, I waited a few more minutes. But Ezio's breaths had fallen even, his arm growing heavy on my side. Maybe this was all he was going to do. And it wasn't all that bad, was it? I couldn't help but imagine that, if that receptionist walked in or that creepy old man, it _would_ seem like Ezio and I were a married couple. And since when did I become okay with that thought? Ezio and I had never really had a weird relationship—not until recently. I knew it had something to do with me moving away, but...I don't know, it seemed like a really bad time to be exploring new feelings. I had always liked Ezio a lot. But there was...well, something that stopped me from ever seeing him more than a friend. That is, until I was declaring to move to Los Angeles.

But even then, I felt safe in his hold, and I knew he wouldn't put the moves on me again. Deciding to enjoy it while it would last, I let myself relax back into his warmth and fall asleep.

* * *

><p>I woke up the next morning when Ezio was in the shower. So I got up from bed, put on some clothes, and readied for a day on the town. Unfortunately, when Ezio got out of the shower, he told me the only flight available today was at noon, so our plans had been axed. We packed up our things, ordered and ate breakfast, and headed out to the airport.<p>

The flight home was no different than the flight over. I was asleep most of the time, only waking up to eat or talk briefly with Ezio.

As the plane touched down in New York, it was around 7:00 P.M. We got our luggage and dragged it out to Ezio's car in the parking garage where Federico had dropped it off earlier in the day. The whole ride home was filled with limited conversation, most of it being about how great it was being back in New York again. When we got to my apartment, Ezio insisted that he help me with my bags, so we rode the elevator to the 9th floor and went to my room. I told him just to set my stuff by the door, that I would take care of it later.

Then we stood there in my kitchen, facing each other in a silence.

I offered him a smile. "Well, thank you again for finding me that apartment. And also for coming with me."

"Anytime." He grinned back, the light catching his face just right that his scar showed on his lip. "And you'll be happy there, too, I think." He reached out and took a hold of my shoulder. "You'll be fine."

"I know." Something wrenched inside of me, and I suddenly felt tears fill my eyes. I knew it wasn't the time to start crying, so I held back the tears, letting them pool but not letting them fall. Instead of turning away to hide them, I stepped forward and hugged Ezio, smearing my tears into his jacket as I hugged his lean waist. He held me back for a moment, rocking me side to side as if to comfort me, before he held me out again.

"If you need, I'll come help you pack things this weekend."

"Yeah, that sounds great." I took a step away, smiling up at him. "And thanks."

Ezio smiled in acknowledgment of my offer before he reached out and let his hand land on top of my head. "Good night, Na-na."

"Night." I showed him to the door and watched him walk down the hall. "Text me when you get home," I called to him. He didn't turn back, just waved his hand in the air and disappeared in the elevator.

I stood in the doorway for a while, realizing just what big of a step I was taking before I turned and walked back into my home, picking up my bags and taking them to my room. Feeling too lazy to unpack, I decided that I was hungry and went to make myself something to eat. As I was hard-boiling some eggs, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I fished it out of my pocket and pulled up my messages. There was one unread message from Ezio. I opened the message.

It read: "_I'm home_."

Home.

Everything came crashing down on me, then. For some reason, the simple phrase caught me so off guard that it brought back suppressed memories and terrible realizations. I didn't have a breakdown, even though I wanted to. I reigned all the emotions inside and typed a quick reply to Ezio, saying "_great! See you this weekend!_". Suddenly not so hungry anymore, I removed the boiling pot of water to a cool burner, turned off the stove, and wandered to the living room, sprawling out on the couch.

Suddenly, everything didn't look so bright, anymore.

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><p><strong>So, there you have it. This chapter basically sucked in my opinion, but that's just me. It had a lot of business shit in it, and those chapters always seem off to me.<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**  
><strong>Please review!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Geez. Life kinda sucks right now.**

**College starts in less than a month. What the fuck am I going to do? I'm not going to lie, I'm getting a little bit nervous.**

**By the way, this chapter DOES have a lemon in it—I'll mark it for those of you who don't want to read it. :)**

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><p><strong>Thanks for the reviews!:<br>miruka67  
>shippolove844<br>sofarsogood99901**

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><p><strong>THE ORANGE COMPLICATION<strong>

We all stood there in a circle, watching as Narina knelt to the ground to make sure her suitcase was all zipped up. Mother and father were standing to my right, one arm around each others waist, and Federico was to my left without his wife, having thought it would have been awkward and rude to bring his wife to say goodbye to the woman her husband cheated on with. Petruccio was next to my father, arms folded and his wide, dark eyes pinned on Narina.

"Well, I think we're all good to go," she mused, standing up, the heels of her boots clicking against the tiled floor. She looked up to my family, her lips spread in a smile, although I knew she had to have been sad. "Thanks again for seeing me off."

"Of course," my mother said, smiling widely, her eyes shimmering. "We couldn't send you off without a goodbye." It was weird how fast all of my family readily took Narina back in their arms, even if they were still mad about her and Federico.

An announcement of a boarding flight echoed over the intercoms and Narina forced another smile. "Well, that's my ride." She stepped forward and was met halfway by my mother, who held her tightly.

"Good luck, Narina. Please call if you ever need anything."

"Of course."

Petruccio was the next for a hug, taller than her by a few inches, and if it wasn't for her heels, he would have been able to look clearly over her head. He was pretty upset, but had enough of himself to hold back any hysterics—he had always thought Narina was nice and he loved her since the day Federico and I brought her home for Halloween one year.

I stayed back as Federico stepped forward and took her in his arms, and I could hear both of them muttering "sorry"s under their breaths. I caught a glance from my father, telling me he wanted the last word with her, so I meandered forward and held out my for her to come into.

Her smile faltered as she stepped into my arms, her chin dimpling slightly before she buried her face in my shoulder, her arms squeezing tightly around me, a much larger hug than I was expecting. We didn't say anything to each other for a minute, but I turned my face into her hair and whispered in her ear, "Whenever you need anything, I can be there in seven hours." She nodded, then pulled away, all smiles once again. Then my father hugged her, the embrace lasting longer than any of ours as he whispered in her ear. I'm not sure what he said, but when Narina pulled back, her cheeks had flushed and tears were streaming out of her eyes.

As she wiped them away with the back of her hands, she smiled, picking up her luggage. "I'll call when I get land." With a goodbye, she then waved and turned, walking to the terminal. I kept my eyes on the back of her head as she walked further and further away, slipping away from my hold. Before she disappeared around the corner, she turned and waved one more time. I waved back, smiling to reassure her. Then she was gone.

"Oh, I do hope she'll be okay," my mother muttered.

"She'll be fine." My father put an arm around my mother's shoulder. "Come, let's go home. Claudia said she'd be here this afternoon." We all turned and left the busy airport, going to the parking garage. We all went our separate ways when we got to the vehicles.

Before my father walked away, I grabbed onto his arm, pulling him to a stop. "What did you say to her?" I asked when he turned to look at me.

He smiled. "What she needed to hear."

That didn't tell me anything, but I knew it was all that I was going to get out of him. Nodding, I let go of him, told him I'd stop by the house later that night to visit Claudia, then went to my car. As I settled in the seat, clicking on my seat belt, I found myself blankly staring out the window, suddenly not sure what I was supposed to do. My gaze fell to the right, down to the middle console. There was a small tube of chap-stick sitting in the cup-holder _Narina's going to miss that_, I thought, reaching over and grabbing it. I looked at it closely as if I would find the answer to my wonders written out on the drug facts. And I noticed that the chap-stick was orange citrus flavor. Funny. Real funny. Putting the chap-stick back, I turned on the car and pulled out of the parking garage, deciding that things were going to change a lot more than I was comfortable with.

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><p>When Narina called that night, she told me that she was scared. I spent a good ten minutes convincing her that it would be okay, even though I wasn't so sure it would be either. That next Monday when she started at the new office, she called me after she got off and told me about how strange it was not to be working in the New York building anymore. Two weeks after that, she called again and told me about her new friends, about how things were starting to look up, how she started to get used to the LA life.<p>

Then she never called again.

Four months passed and I hadn't heard from her. I suppose I could have called her to make sure everything was okay, but from her updates online, I guessed that she was doing just fine. And if she wasn't calling me, then she probably didn't want to talk to me.

But I wanted to talk to her.

It was strange. I felt like I had abandoned her, but she seemed perfectly happy. But it almost hurt to admit that.

Federico and his wife were back to being the perfect couple they were. Six months pregnant, Amelia was going along pretty well, her stomach growing larger by the day, it seemed. They had recently figured out that the baby would be a girl, so they had been obsessing over finding a name for the little bundle of life. Summer vacation had passed, so Claudia had gone back to college in August, going into her Senior, and, hopefully, last year of school. Petruccio started his college courses at home, working just as hard as any of us had done.

The company had hired a bundle of new workers, most of them men to my disappointment, and the only women hired where older and married. I wasn't going to go down that road, although I did feel like I needed a distraction. Life had slowed. Nothing was that exciting, and I wondered where my crazy days had gone. I didn't feel like going clubbing—it sounded too hectic, and I decided that maybe I was getting old, even if I was only twenty-seven.

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><p>One Saturday night as I ate dinner with my family, my father suddenly sneezed, coughing into his elbow. My mother reached over and asked him if he was feeling well.<p>

"I'm fine," he insisted, using his napkin to wipe at his face. "Just a little cold."

"It's gotten worse over these past few days," she pointed out disapprovingly. "I don't think it's a good idea that you are going on this business trip to LA next week."

My eyes shot up from my plate. Business trip to Los Angeles? Why hadn't I heard of it? Business trips were odd around September, too.

"No, it should be fine." After he said it, he started to cough again, holding the napkin to his mouth.

I seized the moment. "Father, if you're too sick, I can go for you."

He shot me a side glance. "That's not necessary."

"It's a better idea than the crazy one you have set in your mind," my mother pointed out, frowning.

My father was always at the business trips. Occasionally, either Federico and I would go with him, but never alone. He always liked to take business into his own hands.

Straightening, my father put his napkin down, clearing his throat. "If you are up to it, then go ahead. The meeting is on Monday, so you'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Right." I couldn't help but smile.

"But listen to me Ezio," my father continued, leaning over the table to look me straight in the eye, holding my soul. "No visiting Narina until after the meeting. Business before personal matters, understand?"

"Absolutely," I agreed immediately, not at all surprised that he knew what I really wanted to go for. "Is the meeting at the building or somewhere else?"

He explained to me where the meeting would take place, in the lobby of the hotel that I would be staying at. It wasn't exactly an official meeting, which was of no surprise, but one that needed to be had, a discussion of the cutting back on sales overseas. Even after dinner was done and Federico and Amelia took their leave, Petruccio leaving for his room, mother cleaning up the dishes, my father continued to tell me what needed to be said at the meeting, and I took it all into serious consideration, knowing how important father's input was at meetings.

When I left my parent's house, I felt a spark of excitement that I had felt left with Narina when she got on that plane. I headed home immediately to start packing.

* * *

><p>The streets seemed different, even though it had only been four months before that I had stepped out of the same airport. The night air was warm, the lasting heat of a sweltering day. Much like New York, the streets were far too crowded, the smog up in the sky making the stars impossible to see. But the buildings towered so high, dazzled with neon lights and signs, promising a good time within the city of Los Angeles.<p>

Waving down a cab, I rode over to the hotel I was staying in, meeting a few business partners down in the lobby before I headed up to my room. It wasn't as luxurious as the suite I had gotten last time, but that was okay. Luxury was no fun without Narina being there to complain. After ordering a meal, I went to bed, excited to get up early the next morning to get the meeting done and over with so I could go do what I wanted.

The meeting lasted from eight in the morning all the way to noon. Many of the business men who attended argued heatedly amongst each other, both sides bringing up many concerns and points. It was hectic and monotonous, but finally, when I saw that noon was rolling around, I put in my father's input in my own, strong words, my classes of public speaking from college really paying off as I swept away the competition and finally brought everyone to a final conclusion, ending just after noon.

One of the men there, who I knew was from the office back home, offered to take me and a few other guys out to lunch. So we went to some restaurant on the other side of the town, ordering a well-deserved meal and cracking jokes. It was nice to hang out with people my own age outside of the office, making me feel like I was able to reach a part of my life that I had lost. So, after we paid for our meals and they offered to go to a bar just down the street, I was torn on whether or not to accept them, or to go visit Narina.

"Nah, I'm good, but thanks," I told them, making up my mind. "I need to visit a friend before I go home."

"Aw, well, we'll be down at the bar if you want to come back," one of them offered, patting my back.

"Thanks." I waved goodbye to them with a "see you later". Once I had gotten a cab and told the driver where I was going, I called my parent's house, knowing my father had stayed home because his sickness had indeed gotten much worse. I told him the meeting was a success and he thanked me.

"Well, tell Narina we all say hi, then," he finished, before coughing and saying he had to go. I hung up as soon as the cab pulled off to the side. I paid the man and climbed out, looking up at the giant building. I went back in my memory as I remembered that Narina told me she worked on the tenth floor. Hoping she hadn't moved in the past four months, I walked inside the building. Inside, it wasn't very unlike the office back home, and it made me smile that Narina must have felt relief to find that it wouldn't be so different at all.

I walked up to the receptionist desk, and the woman there looked up at me. "Hello there, sir. What can I do for you?"

Smiling at her, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet, flinging it open to show my I.D. "My name is Ezio Auditore."

She stared at the picture for a moment, her eyes growing wide until they snapped up to look at me. "Oh my...like, _the_ Auditore? Giovanni's son?"

I nodded. "Sure am."

"Oh!" She hopped up, reached out and shook my hand. "Mr. Auditore, it is a pleasure to have you here!" She sat down, calming herself down before grinning up at me. "What can I do to help you?"

"I just want to visit someone." I looked at my watch, seeing it was about 2:30. "May I?"

"Oh, but of course!" She gestured to the phone. "If you want, I can phone someone down for you."

"May I just go up into the offices? It won't take long."

"Yes." She smiled, pointing to her right. "The elevator is that way."

"Thank you." I walked over towards where she pointed, her reaction making me feel like a celebrity of sorts. Squeezing into the elevator with many other workers, seeing that the 10 button was already pressed. A few got off before I did, and one other worker got off with me. He gave me a strange look before he meandered further into the office. It was filled with cubicles, which was probably a big change for Narina, who had her own little office for about a year.

Not knowing where she exactly worked, I started to meander through the cubicles, trying to find the blue-eyed beauty. My wander drew the attention of many workers who were confused as to who I was. Finally, one of the women, who looked way too stern and needed to take a vacation, blocked my path. "Excuse me sir, but can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Narina," I mused, raising a brow at her.

The woman's eyes narrowed from behind her glasses. "She should still be over in her corner." She pointed.

"Thanks." I turned on my heel and went in the general direction that perfectly manicured finger had pointed. It only took me a moment to see where my destination was. In the corner of the cubicles was a small, dark haired woman who was leaning back in her chair as she typed out something on her keyboard. Her curls were pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a frilly white blouse with a stylish black, pencil skirt, white-polka-dotted high heels on her tiny feet. Ah, so she hadn't changed too much, then? That was a welcome relief. Smiling, I took a step forward.

Before I could take another, a woman came running around the corner, her hair short and spiked out, her heels clicking loudly. She ran into Narina's little space and started to talk to her. "Oh my God, Narina, guess what Clara just told me!" Clara had been the name down on the receptionist's name tag.

Narina turned in her chair to look at the woman, but her face was still hidden from me. "What?" She said, smile clear in her words.

"I guess there's an Auditore in the building! Like, _the_ Auditore's! You're friends with them, right?"

"An Auditore." I saw Narina stiffen in her chair. Then almost as if she had ESP, she whipped around in her chair and looked straight at me. Little strips of hair fell around her face, her blue eyes painted and her lips glossed, a common office look for Narina. Her cute little button nose hadn't changed a bit, and her mouth hung slightly open. I saw my name form on her lips, but I was too far to hear it. That had to change. I strode over to her, my grin widening with every step. She almost looked as though she had seen a ghost, her eyes far too wide.

"Oh my God!" I finally heard her say, then she was in my arms, hugging me. "Ezio? What the hell—?" Then she quickly pushed away and sat back down, staring up at me like she didn't believe I was there.

"Hello to you, too, Na-na." My grin toned down into a warmer smile.

It took her a moment, but she finally smiled, her straight, white teeth peeking out between those full lips. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, reached out and punching my leg like she was just one of the guys.

I looked up to her friend, who stood there gawking at me. "Your friend?" I asked.

"Oh." Narina looked up. "This is Rosa. I...told you about her."

"Yeah, four months ago. Forgive me if I forgot the name," I pointed out, slanting Narina a look. Her lips pursed, but she didn't say anything, gesturing towards me.

"Rose, this is Ezio."

I shook Rosa's hand, and she smiled up at me. "Wow. I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Auditore."

"It's Ezio," I requested, taking my hand back. "I was never one for formalities."

Narina's hand slapped against my leg, drawing my attention back to her. "What are you doing here?" She asked again, more intent on hearing my answer.

"Visiting you."

Her brow furrowed in a way I was all too familiar with. "You _didn't_ fly all the way over to LA just to visit me, did you?"

"Why not?" I answered, deciding to play this out as long as I could, putting my hands on my hips and grinning at her.

She studied me for a moment, quietly speculating. "You're here for business. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in a suit."

Damn, she was good.

"Dad was sick. I decided to come in his place for a meeting."

"Oh." Narina looked at her watch. "Shit." Those blue eyes landed back on me. "Look, I have a job to do. How long are you going to be in LA for?"

"Two days tops." I ran a hand through my hair. "You busy tonight?"

She cast a look at Rosa, the two of them discussing something silently, before she turned to me again. "No."

"Cool. We should go sight-seeing. When do you get off?"

"Five."

"Can I crash at your place? That way I don't have to buy another night at the hotel."

She frowned at that. "Fine, but all I have is a couch."

_That_ made me frown. "Fine." Why couldn't I sleep in her bed? _With_ her? We had done it before.

"You should have told me you were coming." She frowned, biting her bottom lip. "My place is a mess."

I scoffed. "You forget I knew you in college? I've seen the worse of your messes." That made Rosa giggle, before she said she had to get back to work and walked away.

We were barely anymore alone as we had been with Rosa there, considering workers kept looking over at us. But I still reached out and touched Narina's face, running my fingers across her smooth, soft cheek. She didn't move away from the touch, which was a promising sign, but she looked slightly confused, almost as if she were asking me "why".

_Why_ what? I didn't fully understand.

Taking a step away and my hand back, I heaved a sigh. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. See you tonight."

"Here's my apartment key so you can get in." She dug around in her bag under her desk for a moment before sitting up straight and handing me a small silver key. "Paula, the renter, should be working today, so you should stop by the lobby and ask if she has any spare keys."

"Okay." _Spare keys for what?_ "Thanks." I turned away, walking back through the cubicles and to the elevator, many of the workers watching me intently.

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><p>After I had taken a cab back to the hotel to grab my stuff, I rode back to the apartments where Narina lived. The building seemed almost different although with one glance I knew it hadn't gone through any changes. Pushing through the front door, I found myself at the front desk, the same, dark haired woman sitting at the desk.<p>

When I approached the desk, she looked up, proceeded to be shocked, then smiled widely. "Why, Mr. Auditore! Good to see you!" She stood up from her seat. "I'm afraid Narina's at work if you've come to see her."

"Oh, I've already talked to her." I held up the key for proof. "She wanted me to ask you if you had any extra keys?"

"Hmm." Paula stared at me for a long moment, as if to judge me where I stood. Then she pulled open one of the drawers, rummaged through it, then stood and walked around the desk and stood next to me. "I'll talk to her about it when she gets back. Here, let me take you to her apartment."

I remembered which one it was, apartment D27; but I let her lead me anyway. We rode up the elevator to the fourth floor, and walked down the narrow hall.

"It's so nice that you have come to visit Narina," Paula explained as I unlocked the door. "All she does is come home everyday and sit in her apartment, aside from the nights her friends drag her out."

I glanced up, twisting the knob, grinning. "What, no boyfriends?"

"None." She tilted her head at me. "She's such a beautiful girl, though."

"To be perfectly honest, no man deserves her," I mused, opening the door, smiling. "She's too good for any boys."

"Hmm." I hated it when she hummed under her breath like that. It made it seem like she could pry into my thoughts just like my dad could. Before I could make my escape, she pulled me into a hug, which was very weird because I didn't even know her that well. But I felt her slip something into my pocket, and a million things came to my mind, many of which disturb me on very deep levels. "Be careful of what you don't understand yet," she whispered to me before backing away and walking down the hall, not even giving me a second glance. I watched her get on the elevator, though I didn't catch her gaze again. Once the metal doors closed, I reached into my pocket and pulled out whatever was there. A small bolt of shock flooded through me—was I seriously holding a condom in my hand? And was it _seriously_ citrus flavored? How the fuck did she even know? I stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, before I shook myself out of my thoughts and turned into Narina's apartment. Once safely inside, I took a quick look around the kitchen, seeing that Narina had done wonders to make the place look like home. I walked around the wall that led into the living room, smiled at the set-up Narina had going on, and collapsed on the couch.

I flipped the little, square package with the ring-like bulge in it over and back again and again, trying to figure what I should do—keep it and possibly use it?, or rid of it and pretend it never happened?

Finally, I pulled out my wallet and put it in the cash pocket. "Thanks, Paula," I murmured, smiling a little, but also finding myself somewhat scared. I was treading waters I hadn't dared to before.

After looking around Narina's place for a bit, I found that I was extremely tired. Wanting to go against her wishes, I wandered to her room and collapsed on the bed. On her little side table was a lamp, a pile of silver jewelry, and a picture frame. Frowning at the picture in it, I drifted off.

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><p>It seemed only like seconds, but I was soon being shaken awake, Narina's low, calm voice beckoning me. "Ezio. Ezio, wake up."<p>

Groaning, I buried my face further into her pillow, smelling her lavender shampoo in the fabric. "I'm tired," I managed, my voice muffled through the pillow.

"I can see that," she laughed in response. I heard the rustling of clothes, so I turned my head to the side. Narina stood at her closet, wearing only a tank-top and her underwear, filing through her hanging clothes. "So, what's the plan?" she asked. "Shopping? Touring?" Her rummaging caused her hips to move in such a delicious way, like a lure baiting me.

"No," I mumbled, turning away to bury my face again. "Dinner."

"What?"

I lifted my head. "Dinner. In like..." I glanced at the clock. "Thirty minutes."

"Oh. Where?"

I told her the name of the place, and she immediately groaned. "God dammit, that's a fancy restaurant. Couldn't you have chosen one where I didn't have to dress up?" She continued to grumble under her breath as she started to shift faster through her clothes.

"What? No complaining about prices?" I asked in a mocking tone, looking over at her again. She had pulled out a pair of stockings and was pulling them up her legs. Those shapely legs...Quickly, I rolled away, done with teasing for the time being.

She laughed at my jibe, which was strange, considering she used to be so touchy. "Oh, God. I haven't complained about money for a while. I only do that with you—I think you're the only one who can handle it." She giggled under her breath, making me want to roll over so bad to watch her. Call to her. Touch her. God, it had been too long since I had had sex.

"Paula tells me you never bring boyfriends over," I said, not able to stop myself from saying the words.

"Huh, I wonder why," Narina mused. "Oh wait, it's because I don't have a boyfriend."

"So, you're a one-night stander now, huh?"

A wadded up tank-top thumped against my head, her warmth and smell still clinging to it. "No! I don't roll that way, unlike _some _people I know."

So mesmerized I was by the warm piece of clothing now laying across my face that I was too distracted to come up with a response.

"You wearing that?" She asked, drawing my attention back to her. When I rolled over this time, she had a black dress on, a silver belt around her waist, bringing out the smallest part of her middle.

"Yeah." I sat up. "I don't have a silver tie, though."

Narina rolled her eyes at me as she came over to the bed, grabbing a pair of earrings that had been piled on the side table. "We're going to eat dinner, not going to prom."

That brought up another concern. "Speaking of prom," I mused, reaching over to the table and picking up the picture, "who's this?" It was a picture of Narina in a giant pale dress standing next to some kid with jet black hair and tan skin.

Narina didn't say anything for a long moment, concentrating on putting in her earrings.

"Na-na?"

She sighed. "His name's Tamair."

"Huh." Strange name. "Who is he?"

Narina turned to face me suddenly. "Let's not talk about it."

My brows raised. Something she wanted to avoid? And something that I didn't know about?

"Won't you tell me?" I asked, setting the picture aside.

"Later," she answered, moving over to her closest again to pull out a pair of black heels. "Like, after dinner. Let's just...not talk about it right now."

She was obviously uncomfortable with it. Putting the concern on the back burner for the moment, I stood up and stretched. "How do I look?" I asked, moving so I could see myself in her full-length mirror.

"You're clothes are all crooked," she muttered, walking in front of me and straightening my tie. "I swear, you can never dress yourself right—I'm always fixing your stupid clothes."

"Sorry for not being so fashionably updated as you are," I said, smiling at her when she rolled her eyes at me.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, I guess." I ran a hand through my hair, hoping it didn't look too bad, and followed Narina through her apartment. She stopped at the door before we went out into the hall, her hand on the knob, hesitating. "If you don't hurry," I put in, "we'll miss our reservations."

I don't know what overcame her, but she was suddenly extremely upset, tears pouring out of her eyes when she turned to look at me. It was second nature to reach out and take her into my arms like she was a small, wounded bird. For some reason, I felt like it wasn't my place to ask what was wrong, so I merely rocked her back and forth, hoping that she found some sort of comfort in the sway.

Just as quick, she pulled away, wiping at her eyes. "Jeez," she muttered. "Is my make-up smeared?"

"No," I replied, reaching down and wiping away a bit of mascara at the corner of her eye. Then softer, "you okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Forget about it—don't let it ruin dinner. We'll talk about it later."

Ah, so it was the same thing that was bothering her before. I began to wonder just who the hell this Tamair guy was.

* * *

><p>Dinner was perfect. We both forgot our problems as we discussed my family, how life was treating up both, and how much Narina missed New York.<p>

"LA is great and everything," she put in, her fingers fiddling with her fork, "but New York just seems more...I don't know, inviting? Is that strange to say?"

I laughed. "Not really—it's been your home for a very long time."

"Yeah." She lowered her gaze to her empty plate.

Leaning back in my chair, I stared at her until she looked up at me. "What?" she asked.

"I'm trying to determine whether or not you really haven't taken up one-night stands."

Her blue eyes rolled as she huffed and looked away to the other diners. "I've seriously haven't slept with a guy since I got here. None of them appeal to me."

My brow raised. "Am I seriously supposed to believe that the last person you slept with was my brother?" I was momentarily distracted as the waiter picked up the empty plates from the table, his mouth drawn tight as if to hide a surprised look.

When he walked away, Narina leaned over the table and smacked my arm, her brow furrowed and her lips pursed. "He heard you say that!" She snapped, her cheeks dusted pink.

"So? You have sex—a lot of people do, Narina."

She buried her head in her hands and shook her head, not saying anything.

The waiter came back with the bill, and after we had done the credit card transaction, I stood up and offered Narina my arm. She must have still been mad, so she stood on her own and stomped by me. _Oh great_, I thought, wearily following her. _Here comes the storm_.

Ironically enough, when we stepped outside, a light drizzle fell from the sky, the canopy over the entrance of the restaurant saving us from getting wet. The wet streets glistened from all of the neon lights, dazzling in colors and shapes.

"It rains in LA?" I asked in a mocking tone.

"Of course it does," Narina answered a little sharply, looking up at the dark sky. "I didn't bring an umbrella."

"We're just walking over to the street."

She shot me a look. "You know I hate the rain."

It rained on her dad's funeral. Of course I knew she hated the rain.

"You want my jacket then?" I was already shrugging out of my suit jacket, reaching over and covering her. She gladly accepted it, muttering a low "thanks" as she wrapped the jacket around her head. When we walked out from under the canopy, I almost regretted giving her my jacket. For being LA, it was pretty chilly. By the time we had gotten a cab to stop, my hair and shoulders were soaked. As the cab took off, I shook my head, little droplets of water flying everywhere.

"You're going to get sick like your dad," Narina mused, though she kept my jacket around her shoulders.

I patted my head. "I'll be fine."

"I'm sure that's what Giovanni said, too." When I looked at her, she was looking at me from the corner of her eye, a small smile on her lips. The corners of my mouth twitched, and I elbowed her.

"Shut it," I told her, shaking my head.

She laughed, reaching up and fixing her hair that had gotten all static-like from my jacket. We said nothing else before we got to Narina's apartment. With my jacket still poised over her, Narina ran from the cab to get inside. Thanking the driver and paying, I followed after her at a slower pace, shaking my head in amusement when I met up with her at the door. No one was at the front desk, Paula obviously taking a break, so we went to the elevator and rode up. When we got inside, I took my stuff that I had put by the door and moved it to the living room. As I sat down on the cushions and kicked off my shoes, Narina disappeared back in her room to change. Relaxing back on the couch, I propped my feet up on her coffee table, heaving out a big sigh, closing my eyes and hearing the faint noises of the city permeating through the walls.

"You probably want a pillow, right?" I looked up to see Narina putting a pillow at the end of the couch. Her hair was a wild mess, kinked from being in a ponytail, but it all blended into the waves of her soft hair. My jacket was on her now, buttoned up, the sleeves much too long for her while the bottom opened up to show her slender legs.

"Nice jacket," I commented, finding it strangely sexy.

She looked down at herself, twirling once. "It _is_ quite nice, isn't it? I'll be making quite the fashion statement." She started strutting across the room like she was on a cat-walk, and I burst up laughing.

"All the women will be so jealous!" Chuckling, I sat up and watched as she twisted around at the end of the room and strutted back towards me. My smile turned crooked. "I want it back—if you wear it any longer, it'll make _me_ look bad in it."

Stopping, she put her hands on her hips, studying me for a moment, scrutinizing.

Finally, I sighed. "I give it a 10 out of 10."

Smiling, she unbuttoned the jacket, revealing her black tank-top and short shorts that I knew to be her pajamas. Folding the jacket over her arm, she handed it back to me, her little feet plopping noisily on the floor. I took it, staring up at her, feeling myself lean towards darker intentions as I remembered the orange flavored condom in my wallet.

"Wanna watch a movie?" She asked, twisting away suddenly to walk over to her shelves of DVDs.

As she browsed over the titles, I stared at the back of her head, leaning back into the cushions as I dropped the jacket on the end of the couch. "Not really."

"Oh." She stopped looking, but didn't turn towards me. "What do you want to do then?"

We sat in a long silence as I weighed my options. But finally, I said, "I think we need to talk about this Tamair fella."

Her shoulders slumped as she sighed, as if she had known I was going to suggest it. "It's a long story," she muttered.

"I've got all night," I reminded her. When she didn't reply, her back still towards me, I continued, "Narina, you can trust me."

Slowly, she faced me, her face full of so much complexity that I couldn't quite understand. With measured steps, she came and sat down on the couch next to me, avoiding my gaze as well as she could.

"First off, it all started back when my dad died when I was in seventh grade," she started, "and I told you about that, right?"

I nodded. Her dad had worked in an office much like my family's, and one day when he went on a business trip, he got in an accident on the freeway, and burned in a car fire. A year later, her mother remarried a guy—but Narina didn't hate him, despite how much she loved her dad. I guess the stepfather had never tried to take the place as her father, so she was okay with it.

"So, after my mom married again and I got into High School, I was determined to get my work done so that I could make my father proud, wherever he was. I had friends, but I was more focused on school during my freshman year." She paused. "Everything changed when sophomore year rolled around. I met Tamair—he was a senior at the time, and he was in my ceramics class with me. Once we got to know each other, we started dating." She glanced up, squinting as if trying to remember how the story went. "I took him to meet my family, and although my step-dad was a little weary of Tamair, my mom fell in love with him, and was glad that I had hooked up with him. School had been put aside for the time being as I started hanging out more and more with Tamair. My friends soon stopped calling and trying to hang out with me, so all I had was Tamair. I started to depend on him.

"After we dated for three months, graduation was right around the corner, and he told me that he was going to put off college just so he could stay home with me. So, of course, I got all twitterpated and assumed that I was in love with the guy." She looked at me, expecting me to ask a question, but when I didn't, she continued. "We kept the relationship at a slow pace. That whole summer, the only thing we did that was sexual was that he fingered me when we went to a movie once. He had mentioned, though, that we should start having sex, that we had waited long enough, but...I don't know, it didn't seem right.

"So, junior year in high school, Tamair was still always there despite him having graduated the spring before. He took me to lunch every day, drove me to and from school. It was probably around the first days of spring in second semester that Tamair convinced me we needed to go on a trip. So we packed up and went to the nearest, big city and stayed there a few nights." She was biting her lip, her eyes locked on the edge of the coffee table. "When we were there, he convinced me that we should have sex. After that, things...were different. My whole summer was spent at his apartment, either sucking his dick or having sex with him. We tried all sorts of things, different positions, some strange kinks, everything."

I finally spoke, trying to keep out the images of Narina sitting between that kid's legs. "Your orange kink appeared then, I assume."

"Yeah. It was my favorite." Narina closed her eyes. "Anyway, summer passed, and both of us were going back to school. It was hard not to have him there 24-7. I knew no one at school anymore, I had to eat lunch alone, and ride the buses on Mondays through Thursdays—Fridays, he'd be home from college and would pick me up from school. Every weekend, he'd be back, and we spent the whole time with each other. Things had been going so well, we were actually discussing getting married and moving to his college town the next summer."

When she didn't speak for a long time, I felt compelled to reach over and grab onto her tiny hand, and I was surprised to find it trembling within my hold. But, at the touch, she looked up at me, sadness filling her eyes in the form of tears. "That changed, didn't it?" I whispered as her fingers threaded with mine.

She was staring off in the distance again, reliving a memory she didn't want to remember. "It was probably four months before my graduation that things started to look a little rocky." For a long moment, she sat there, her eyes falling down to the floor as if she were ashamed. "I figured out that I was pregnant."

_That_ shocked me. I knew Narina had been sexually active before I met her, and she even had some strange stories to tell about what happened in college. But I had never imagined her to be a _mother_. It hit me then why she must have been so devastated to hear that Amelia and Federico were going to have a child—she had gone through it too.

"I was afraid," she whispered. "When I told Tamair about it, he convinced me that nothing would change, we would go through with our plans so that he could still go to college. And everything was okay again, although they weren't the same. We stopped having sex so much, he got a job over the weekends, so he wasn't around as much anymore." I noticed the tears too late, only catching sight of them when they were rolling down her face. "But I was certain everything would be fine. So positive." A sob choked from her mouth, and she covered her face with her free hand as I squeezed her other with mine to try and comfort her. "Two months later, one month before I could graduate and move on," she had dazed off in a deep stare again, "I woke up at four in the morning in a pool of blood."

My stomach dropped. _A miscarriage._

"After we got back from the doctors the next day, I kinda had a meltdown and refused to talk to anyone and just holed up in my room. When I finally went back to school the next week, I was numb and didn't really care about anything. But even then, Tamair's timing to break up with me was awful. He told me over the phone one night that he didn't think things would work out between us anymore, that the whole pregnancy thing made him see it in a new light, and how he was sure that neither of us would have been able to take care of a baby."

"What an ass-hole," I muttered, my brow furrowing.

"No, he was really nice about it all, really." She leaned back into the couch. "He told me I had my whole life ahead of me and that he shouldn't have been trying to rush me through it."

"So, you took the break-up well?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. It didn't take me long to realize that our relationship was based mostly on the sex by that point of time." A sigh. "But my mom didn't take it so well."

I had known for a very long time that Narina and her mother didn't have such a great relationship—I had never known why before.

"I told you she liked Tamair, right? Well, she loved him like he was her own son. When he broke up with me, she was so upset about it that she told me if I wasn't good enough for him, than I wasn't good enough for her. She began picking fights with me daily, telling me that I needed to get out of her sight. If it wasn't for my step-dad, I probably would have just left, but he convinced me that until I went to college, I needed a place to stay. I was so eager to try and make my mom proud of me again that I was able to get a bunch of scholarships before school ended. Knowing that if I worked hard, I decided that I could go to a big school. After taking a bunch of entry exams, I was finally accepted into Harvard.

"But it still wasn't enough. My mom kicked me out as soon as my stepfather allowed. So I went to college thinking that I had to work hard and do good so that both of my parents could forgive me, because I knew that my father had to have been disappointed in me for getting tangled up in the Tamair business anyway. So I worked and worked my freshman year, keeping my grades up at A's, not taking the time to get to see the new faces and people."

As she stopped again, now staring at the ceiling, her other hand reached over and took a hold of my hand in both of hers, holding it to her stomach. When she closed her eyes, tears fell from them and dripped into her hair line.

"Then," she continued lowly, "I met you." A small smile appeared on her lips. "And everything changed again, but for the better this time. I stopped being so worried about what my mom wanted, and realized that it was my life to live. It probably would have never happened if you didn't drag me out of my dorms so often." He hands tightened onto mine, her chin dimpling as more tears leaked from her eyes. "So thank you."

That was enough. Needing to comfort her now more than ever, I pulled her into my arms, holding her tightly as she fitted into my side, burying her head in my neck. "You never have to thank me, Narina," I whispered to her in a gentle tone. "Just having you in my life is good enough, I promise."

She held onto me for what seemed like a lifetime, although I found myself disappointed when she pulled away. But the smile she was flashing me made it all worth the while, a smile that was full of appreciation and admiration. I smiled back at her, cupping her chin in my fist. "You're a strong woman, Narina, and I believe that you can do anything you want."

She smiled wider for a split moment before she frowned and reached forward, touching my shirt. "Sorry—I wiped mascara all over it."

Sure enough, on my shoulder there was black smudges all over. "It's fine," I mused as she stood up from the couch. "I have billions of other shirts."

She surprised me then. Standing in front of me, she bent over and started to unbutton my shirt, making me stiffen in surprise and look up at her, her lips parted in concentration while her angle gave me a full view of her cleavage peeking out the top of her tank. As she opened up the buttons, her fingers would brush against my skin, sending bolts through me. Seeing my confusion, she smiled at me. "I can wash it for you—it's no big deal, promise."

Things had suddenly gotten very uncomfortable for the lower part of my body, so I could only nod to not let the strangled noise come out of my throat. Afraid that she would notice my situation, I stopped her from unbuttoning the last few buttons and did it myself, slipping off the white collared shirt and handing it to her silently. She walked back to her room then, probably going to find more clothes.

Taking advantage of my temporary privacy, I quickly dug around my pack to find my pair of sweat pants. As I stood straight, the sweatpants hung over my arm, I quickly changed into my pajamas and settled down on the couch, moving the pillow to prop it behind my head.

* * *

><p>I didn't realize how tired I was until I was woken up by a hand stroking my face. When I could finally focus, Narina was sitting on the arm rest above my head, smiling at me. "Here, just in case if you make any more unexpected plans to visit LA, you don't have to hunt me down." She was dangling a key on a ring from her finger. I reached up slowly and grabbed it, realizing this is what the extra key to the apartment was for. Muttering a thanks under my breath, I leaned forward to toss the keys onto the coffee table.<p>

"We should go for a walk," she suddenly said, standing up from the end of the couch.

"What?" I looked up at the clock on her wall. "It's already...oh." It was only 8:30.

"Exactly, _old man_. Let's go get some ice-cream—it's just down the street."

Frowning, I sat up, rubbing the back of my head. "I'm already dressed for sleep, though."

"I go there in my Pj's all the time," she said.

"It's raining," I reminded her, looking out the window.

"Oh, but it's like nothing now." She walked behind the couch, slapping my shoulder. "C'mon, don't be a stick in the mud."

I rolled my eyes, but stood up, stretching. "I'm changing into jeans then—I don't look near as sexy in my pajamas as you do."

She ran back to her room to find a jacket (which was stupid in my opinion, considering that her short shorts kinda canceled out the jacket thing, but whatever), and I changed into jeans, finding a t-shirt and throwing it on as well. By the time I was done, Narina was back with her wallet clamped between her teeth, fumbling with an umbrella in her hand as she zipped up her jacket.

It was a short walk to the ice-cream place, the old man working there recognizing Narina and giving her a free cone. She paid for mine because she felt bad, smiling apologetically to me as we walked out the door. The streets had died down from what they had been like earlier, and although the rain had slowed, Narina insisted that we use the umbrella. It gave me an excuse to walk close to her, so I didn't mind. At one point, she hooked her arm with mine and I felt her shiver, the jacket obviously not doing its job (I wonder why).

By the time we had gotten back to her apartment, I had finished my cone, but she was still lapping away at hers. "You know," she was saying as she went to walk into the living room, "I'm pretty sure that place has the best fucking ice-cream ever! Rosa's boyfriend, Ugo, took us there once, and I just fell in love with it!" She continued to ramble on as I followed behind her, shaking my head and smiling. "Oh!" She suddenly turned, walking back into the kitchen. "I forgot that I have to—."She lurched forward mid lick of her ice-cream, tripping on the table leg, proceeding to smear her chocolate ice-cream all over my shirt. "Oh, God, sorry!" She squeaked as she pulled away, the cone falling to the ground.

"How many of my shirts are you going to ruin?" I said jokingly, not really caring.

"Jeez, if we hurry, we can get it in the washer with the others. Hurry, hurry!" She was clawing at my shirt, tearing it over my head, leaving me shirtless in her kitchen as she scuttled down the hall. Hearing the machine beep out as she pressed the buttons, I picked up the fallen ice-cream and threw it away. I meandered to the living room and collapsed on the couch again. Realizing that it would be rude to leave wet shoes in her living room, I stooped over to pick the up and took them to the kitchen to place by the door.

"So, hey, do you..." He voice trailed off. "Ezio? Hello?"

"In here," I called out, walking back into the living room. Narina was back in just her tank and shorts, kneeling down in front of her movie shelf to look at the titles.

"You up for a movie now?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the rows.

"Sure, why not?" I leaned against the arm rest of the couch to pull off my socks, throwing them on top of my suitcase.

"What movies do you like?" Narina asked, standing and turning to face me.

"The usual—Comedy, action." I went to move to the couch, but I noticed something was wrong. She was staring at me blankly, eyes locked onto mine. Confused, I glanced down at myself to see if some bug or creature was on me. When I saw nothing and I looked back up again, she was walking towards me, her eyes shadowing in an odd way. It was scary, but very enticing. She walked up so close to me that I could feel her warmth. My eyes widened as I felt her fingers reach up and touch my stomach, the softness sliding against my skin like sweet silk.

"You know," she whispered, her head bowed down, "I've always liked seeing you in jeans—it's sexy."

Was she seriously..._seducing_ me right now? _Narina?_ Seducing someone? It seemed absurd! But there was no way I could deny my body or my more responsive side. My hands rose up, taking a firm hold of her upper arms. She looked up at me through those long eye-lashes, and although I nearly threw her down on the couch right then, I wanted her to know that this wasn't a way to deal with reliving her memories.

"Narina," I warned, "this isn't a game that you're trying to get into."

She pouted up at me. "What do you mean?" She asked innocently, stepping closer to me. "And would you let go of me—you're bruising me!"

I let go of her arms, but my hands dropped to her wrists, pulling her hands away. "Don't start something you won't finish, Na-na," I whispered in a low tone. "This isn't the way to get over Tamair."

"Oh, please," she snapped, stepping away as she ripped her hands away. "I was over Tamair the moment he broke up with me. I told you I never took it harshly."

"Then why are you doing this?" I asked, confused and torn.

"Is it weird to say that I could possibly just want it?" She had stepped forward again, her small hands bracing against my stomach. He blue eyes gleamed strangely through her dark lashes, her full, pink lips parted. "I haven't had sex for a while, you know."

"Using me, then? I thought you didn't roll that way?" My stomach did a little flip as I felt her fingertips fiddle with the edge of my pants.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" Her fingers were now working on the button of my jeans as her hot breath fanned against my chest

My judgment was getting a little bit hazy, my lust trying to outweigh the sense. "Say what?"

Laughing, she pushed away from me, gazing up at me. "I may have denied you all these years, Ezio, but, especially lately, I've just wanted to fuck you."

"Just a fuck?" Why, God, _why_ was I questioning it so much? Sex with Narina? Come on! That had been a goal I thought I'd never achieve! Why the fuck was I trying to make it more?

Well, because I did want more than just a one night thing. I wanted the whole package.

She didn't say anything for a moment, staring up at me speculatively. "It could be more," she whispered, "couldn't it?"

"Yeah." I nodded eagerly. "Definitely." _Right? _I was more than willing to give it a shot.

"You live in New York," she reminded me softly.

"So? That's nothing we can't handle."

"Promise?"

I smiled. "Promise."

* * *

><p><strong>LEMON START<strong>

* * *

><p>A small smile appeared on her face, and her touching hands reached up and cupping around my face. Knowing what she was going for, I bent my head down and met her halfway, kissing her so deep that it took my breath right from me. Her arms wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly before she began to push me, guiding me backwards. Allowing her the power for the moment, I let her push me back onto the couch, breaking the kiss as she stood over me, smirk on her lips. A deep haze started to render me thoughtless for a moment as I stared up at her, watching as she crawled on top of me, one knee on either side of my hips. Taking my head in her hands, digging her fingers through my hair, she dipped my head back so she could kiss me harshly, her tongue lapping against my lips.<p>

My hands landed on her narrow waist, running along her curves to cup along her bottom, holding her steady while kneading her ass softly. Her small, soft hands were running all over my abdomen, touching every inch of me she could, each caress sending a bolt of pleasure and arousal straight to my hardening groin. A groan filtered through our kisses, rolling off my tongue, which was in her mouth at the moment. My hands moved from her ass and traveled up her back, slipping under her top, touching her bare back, feeling the soft curve of her body. When my wandering hands touched her bra strap, my fingers had an automatic method to unhook the mind-boggling clasps. When the material was slackened, my hands fisted into her top, lifting it up over her head, her arms lifting up. When the tank-top was tossed aside, I pulled the bra off next, throwing it aside.

I was so aroused, so ready for it to happen that I didn't take the time to gaze over her. I immediately reached up and cupped my hands around her breasts, kneading them as my head ducked down to place hot, open mouth kisses on the upper swells of her breasts, tasting her skin as if she were the delicious ice-cream that I had brought home. As my mouth found one hardening bud, my kneading hand moved so my thumb could press pleasing circles into her other hardening nipple, and I heard her gasp above me, her hands tangling into my hair.

"Ezio," she moaned, her heavy, breathy voice making my jeans become even more uncomfortable. I had only dreamed of hearing Narina say my name like that. But then she pulled away, and I was almost angry, not understanding why she was leaning away from me now. "My neighbors can see into my windows," she whispered, turning her bare back to the windows. Sure enough, when I looked out them, the apartments across the way could see right into Narina's living room. Well, that wouldn't do. I was all for having sex wherever, but...no one got to see Narina naked but me—especially when I'm the one she's getting naked for.

"Then let's move." Without giving her a chance to reply, I stood up and she automatically wrapped her legs around my waist, her arms encircling my neck as she started giggling. I carried her through her living room, nearly made it down the hall without hitting into the walls, clicking off lights as I went, and nudged open her bedroom door, Narina sucking on my neck the entire way. Once we had made it over to her bed, I dropped her down on it so she landed open to me, her legs automatically spreading to hold me between, her dark hair just a shadow in the darkness of the room. Her arms where lifted above her head, giving me full access to stare at her body, and even in the dimly lit room, I could see all the beauty that was Narina: her soft curves; her smooth, flawless skin; her little rosy, puckered nipples; and the little dark mole that hid under her left breast, one to match the cute one under her right eye.

Humming in desire, I climbed over her, hooking her legs around my hips as I kissed her hard, anchoring my hands in her thick hair. In response, Narina lifted her hips, her lower body pressing into mine, and I groaned as her core rubbed against the growing tent at the front of my jeans. Not going to have any of her man handling tonight, I took a hold of her hips and held her down to the bed, backing away from her as she stared up at me with hooded eyes, her lips parted as rapid breaths fell from in between them. My hands ran up her legs, my thumbs hooking under her shorts, bunching them in my hold until I had a hold of her underwear as well. As I pulled them down her legs, I leaned over her, kissing her tummy, feeling and hearing her giggle, her legs lifting to help me out with tugging them off. As soon as her clothes were tossed to the side of the bed, my hand immediately found her core, rubbing the hot, wet mess there.

A groan that shot right to my groin was torn from her throat, her hips rising up to grind against my hand. When my middle finger slipped inside of her, curling and uncurling, she gasped out, throwing her head back. "Oh my God, Ezio!" As I continued to finger her, adding another finger, I lifted my head and watched her, her lips parted, her cheeks flushed, her eyes closed so that her dark lashes touched the pocket under her eyes. "Oh, God," she kept whispering under her breath, her hands reaching up to tangle in my hair, her hips swiveling in delicious movement.

But then she was pushing at me, brushing my hand away. Confused, I leaned back, gazing down at her in wonder, afraid that she suddenly decided to back out. Her small fingers gripped at the edge of my pants, hauling herself up to a sitting position. Then she unbuttoned my pants, dragging down the zipper. My body went rigid as I watched her pull on the jeans, tugging them from my waist, bunching them at my knees. She wasn't even shy about it all. The next thing I knew, my boxers were ripped down and she had taken a hold of my erection in her small hands, her eyes darkened with lust as they looked up at me. As she started working me over, slow strokes turning into fast pumps, my mind seemed to scatter, and the only thing that I could do was throw my head back and groan. I heard her spit, a warm liquid appearing on the sensitive skin of my head. Right as I looked down, I watched her full lips part as she took me in her mouth, her hot, quick tongue rubbing up against my skin.

A cry ripped out of me as my hips bucked, the tip of my cock hitting the back of her throat, to which she gagged in response, pulling away slightly. But no, no, God, no, she couldn't stop now! My right hand fisted in her hair, holding her so she couldn't move away. Seeing that I wasn't about to let her go, Narina started to bob her head back and forth, her hand pumping at the exposed erection that she could not get into her mouth. With each little movement, my body tightened with such vigor, such passion that I nearly snapped under the pressure. God, I had to see it disappear, had to watch it disappear between her pretty lips. Wanting the image so very badly, my hips began to meet with her little bobs, trying to force her to swallow me, take all of me. I would have told her, but words seemed like a foreign thing at the moment.

She must have guessed my desires in the inhuman grunts I was emitting, for she let go of me, put both of her hands on my legs, waited a moment, before she pressed forwards slowly. Holy shit, was she really going to...? My head flew back, stars shooting before my eyes as she took all of me in, her nose pressing against me, her fingers digging into my legs.

"Fuck," I drawled out, both hands now clasped in her thick hair. She hummed in response, seemingly vibrating my very being, so I had to push her away lest I finish without actually getting to business.

Everything seemed to blend together, a strange form of arousal taking over me. I shoved her back down onto the bed, spreading her legs out wide as I kicked aside my pants and boxers. As I was settling over her, though, kissing her in such a manner that it felt as though my tongue were in her throat, I remembered enough of myself to recall a certain problem that could arise if I were to continue so heatedly. Pulling away again, I reached down to grab my jeans off of the floor, digging in my pocket to find my wallet. As I pulled out the condom, Narina had sat back up again, staring at me with a sly smirk on her face.

"Came prepared, I see."

"Yeah." I smirked right back. "Orange flavored, too."

A frown marred her face. "You're such a jerk." She met me half way, kissing me deeply despite her angered tone from before. She helped me unwrap the latex object, even taking the liberty to put it on for me. But as she was pulling the condom on, I noticed that her hands where shaking.

Once she was finished, I reached down and took a hold of her hand, causing her to look up at me. "Are you afraid?" I asked, staring into her very soul, trying to find the answer for myself.

She shook her head no, but I saw a definite yes in her eyes. I opened my mouth to ask, but she shook her head again, tilting her face up to suck my bottom lip into her mouth. Her small hands braced themselves on the small of my back, her tiny feet landing on the back of my calves, her hips lifting up, begging me to start. It hit me then, as her fingers dug into my back, why Narina was so scared. Lifting my head away from her kiss, I looked down at her. "Narina," I whispered, my voice rough, scratchy like I had just woken up from a nap, "I'll always be here for you—you know that, right?"

Bingo. Right on the nose. I knew that was what she was worried about. Her chin dimpled, her eyes filling with tears. I wasn't stupid enough to believe that she hadn't' been broken up about her father's death, about her boyfriend that she had been dating for three years, about her miscarried child, about her mother, about being shipped across the US, about being all alone in a big city. It was just one thing after another. Narina had been abandoned for so very long. But now that I had her in my arms, I would make sure she never would be alone again. She was mine, and it would stay that way.

Leaning down, I kissed her eyes, brushing away the tears on her lashes. "No matter how far I am, even if I'm just out of reach," I whispered to her, "I'll still be your best friend. I promise."

Her arms wrapped up around my neck as she pulled in close to me, burying her face in my shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered, her hot breath running along my skin, her soft lips brushing against my neck.

Since the moment had been temporarily serious, I felt the need to ease back into the rush of things. As I placed soft kisses on her shoulder, slowly turning into sensual suckles, my hands ran up her sides, feeling her shudder under my touch. Her hips rolled upwards, grinding up against mine, making the hot, blinding desire come back in a flash. Holding her away, her hands running down my chest, I sat up and hooked one of her legs on my elbow, opening her up more. She laid out on the bed, vulnerable and open as she watched me move above her. Guiding myself with my free hand, I pressed the tip of my cock in her velvet folds, the heat almost too much, even with the condom. Slowly, I pushed forward, keeping my eyes to watch for her reaction. Her gaze was pinned on where we were touching, her chest heaving greatly. Finally, the head was enveloped in her wet, hot pussy, and Narina groaned out, her head leaning back into her bed, her free leg hooking up around my hip. Taking a hold of her hooked leg and her hip, I pressed further and further into her, feeling every warm wall of her clenching around me. It _had_ been a long time for her—I could feel her walls stretch around me. When I filled her to the hilt, she moaned out, one hand running down her body to touch at her core.

My hand brushed hers away. "No, no, no," I whispered, my voice nearly unrecognizable. "That's my job."

"Just let me touch—." Her words were cut off by a gasp as I started to rock into her. Spitting on fingers, I reached down and rubbed at her sensitive little pearl, watching in pleased arousal as she arched her back in response, her hands landing on my knees as her nails dug into my skin. Spreading my knees further apart, I hooked her other leg around my other elbow, angling myself so that I could try and find that hidden spot within her.

As I began to make my thrusts longer and harder, Narina started to swear under her breath, moaning and groaning my name, her own hips moving against my own to make me hit deeper inside of her. Her breasts started to roll with my movements, enticingly bobbing. One of her hands hand captured one of her tits, squeezing the supple mound, as her other hand reached up to her mouth, collecting a pool of spit between her fingers before she reached down and dropped the warm liquid where my thumb was rubbing at her clit. With the added moisture, she muttered some profanity under her breath, rolling her hips again. Allowing her legs to be free, they wrapped around my waist as I leaned over her, changing the angle of my thrusts. She was so beautiful: her hair was a mess, tangled about her, her lips were bruised from all her biting, her cheeks flushed this amazing color that I fell in love with immediately. Her arms wrapped around me, her nails digging into my back, making me get in touch with my masochistic side and groan out in pleasure as she raked her nails down my back. Her body was pulled so close to mine, her breasts pressed up against my chest, her flat stomach matched with mine, and yet I felt like I needed to get closer. It seemed that no matter how far I hit inside of her, no matter how hotly she breathed my name, I could never get enough.

My mind waved a white flag as my body took over, a growl tearing out from my throat as my hips began to move faster, praying that I would be able to end this building fire inside. Her hands tangled into my hair, pulling and tugging pleasantly as she guiding my head up, kissing me with a burning desire. Following suite, I allowed my hands to travel up her body, running up her neck so that my finger threaded through her thick, wavy hair, anchoring myself as I fucked her mouth with my tongue, imitating very closely to what I was doing to her below.

"Fuck," she suddenly whispered, leaning away, tilting her head back. "Ooh, fuck." She was close. Encouraged by the thought, I changed my thrusts length, nearly pulling all the way out before driving back in. The bad part was that I was close, too. I felt the tightening down below, my stomach clenching in anticipation; I would hate to finish before she did. That's a rare thing to happen for me, but, God dammit, Narina was just too perfect, too beautiful. Scared for that to actually happen, one of my hands dropped back down and rubbed at her swollen nub, violently moving against it. "Ezio!" She nearly yelled, but then sobbed out a loud "fuck" after, her arms wrapping around me tightly as her legs pressed against my hips, her inner walls tightening around my cock in spasms, her nails digging so deep into my shoulders that I felt it could draw blood, but I didn't really realize it. My mind was too focused on hitting inside of her so deep, the hot fluid that flushed around my pounding cock, the building pressure inside of my balls. Just a few more thrusts...just...

Narina surprised me by leaning away from me, her hands on either side of my face as she stared into my eyes. The blue hues were dazed with pleasure, but I could see my precious Narina in the depths. I could see her soul, her fear, her love, her wonder, all in her eyes. And—holy fuck—that drove me off of the end. Calling out Narina's name hoarsely, I exploded, all the tension breaking as pleasure flooded my entire body. I felt myself soften inside of her, and I pulled out, automatically pulling off the condom, tying it off, and throwing it off the side of the bed, deciding to throw it away later.

* * *

><p><strong>LEMON END<strong>

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><p>When I looked back at Narina, she had one arm draped over her eyes, her chest heaving as her body relaxed. Before I could move, she moved her arm and looked up at me, and I smiled softly, leaning back over her, kissing her softly. "Smile for me," I whispered, staring into her eyes once more.<p>

"Smile?" She made it sound like it was a foreign request.

"Yeah, smile." I kissed her again, and when I pulled away, an adorable smile had appeared on her lips, laughter falling between. "God, you're so beautiful."

"So you've told me before," she whispered. "Actually, it was the first thing you called me, back before you knew my name."

A chuckle fell from my lips. "You remember that? I was a dork back then."

"Oh, you still are," she murmured, laughing when I pouted at her. "But you're my dork." I kissed her again before pulling back, rolling to the side so I was laying next to her.

She automatically curled into my side. "I lied," she whispered after a long moment of silence.

"Lied?"

"Yeah. About Tamair." She started to trace little designs on my chest with her finger.

"About what, exactly?"

She heaved a sigh. "I didn't really take the breakup that well. I went into a deep depression, especially when I got to college. That's why I didn't date for the longest time." She paused, her fingers stopping. "But, now that I look back on it, I guess I wasn't really broken up over him. I think I was really upset over the miscarriage, and how he abandoned me so soon after it had happened. I never really tried to let it bother me, but it's always been a shadow lurking in my past."

I didn't know how to respond, so I kissed the top of her head to remind her that I would forever be there for her. "But, actually, now that I've talked about it, it doesn't hurt as bad." She twisted her head so she was looking up at me, her smile gorgeous and her eyes shining, even in the dim light. "So thanks."

"Anytime." I moved around to climb under the blanket, wrapping both of us under it.

As she shifted around, finding a more comfortable position against me, her legs twisted with mine, entangling together. I wrapped my arm around her slim waist, holding her closer.

"So, can we do this?" She asked, bringing me off the cusp of sleep.

It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. "Yeah, of course."

"Do you think it'll be hard?"

"Yeah." I couldn't lie to her—I _knew_ it would be hard.

She was quiet for a moment. "You'll come visit me, won't you?"

"If I can find the time, sure." I gazed down at her. "You'll have to come back to New York eventually."

"I know." She sighed, snuggling more into me. "I'm saving up money already."

Relaxing, I allowed my eyes to close. "It'll be nice to have you back home again...when you _do_ come back." She hummed in agreement, but said nothing more, obviously finding sleepiness with me.

For the first time in a long time, things were looking good.

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><p>I woke up to Narina moving, shifting away as she leaned over the side of the bed. "Where's your phone?" She asked me, climbing off of the bed.<p>

Sure enough, I finally made out the tone of my phone, the annoying ring grinding my gears. Groaning, I rolled onto my side. "In my pants."

Narina was soon holding out my phone to me, the bright screen nearly blinding me. "It's Federico," she told me, although I could see his picture on the screen. I also saw that it was 2:00 A.M. What the fuck did Federico want?

Growling out, I took the phone, hit a button, and held it up to my ear as I sat up, the blanket bunching at my waist. "What do you want, Federico? It's two in the morning!"

"Are you still in LA?" He asked me, his voice tight.

"Yeah, I'm still in LA."

"You need to come home."

Annoyance flushed through me. "What the hell? Why?"

Federico was silent for a moment. "Petruccio is in the hospital—he had one of his moments. The doctors are saying that he might not make it out alive."

My body was riddled with shock, fear. "Shit! When did this happen?"

"Just a moment ago, I'm still driving to the hospital—mom wanted me to call you."

"Fuck, I'll be on the next flight home!" I hung up the phone and sprung out of the bed, pulling on my boxers and pants all in one tug.

"Ezio, what's going on?" I vaguely heard the words, swooping out of the bedroom and down the hall, heading to the living room to get all my stuff. The city lights poured through the window, giving me enough light to see what I was doing. As I gathered my stuff and shoved it back in my suitcase, I threw on a shirt and pulled out my phone, about to call the airport to catch the next flight to New York.

"Ezio."

I stopped, turning and looking at the mouth of the hallway. Narina stood there in her underwear, my old baggy t-shirt hanging off of her delicate frame. She glowed an unnatural blue from the neon lights outside. She looked scared and lost, like a wounded baby bird. "What's happened?" She asked in a whisper.

For a split moment, I panicked and couldn't think clearly. I threw my phone across the living room, hearing it shatter against the wall as I collapsed on the couch, burying my head in my hands. There was no way I could make it home in time to say goodbye.

The next thing I knew, Narina stepped between my legs and was hugging me, my face buried in her chest as she stroked my hair. "What happened?" She asked again, softly as though not to startle me.

I relaxed. "It's Petruccio."

I felt her stiffen. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I need to get home."

She kissed the top of my head, squeezing me tightly before she stepped away. "Well, call me when you figure out...what's going down."

Nodding, I let her help me stand up. I looked over at my phone laying on the ground, the battery cover knocked off while the screen had a small crack in it. Narina already had it gathered and put back together before I could even think of moving, her soft, small hands handing me back the phone. We didn't say anything, but I pulled her into my arms, kissing her ear, her cheeks, her nose, her lips, trying to tell her that I promised things would be okay, even if I knew they probably wouldn't.

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><p>I don't really remember leaving—the next thing that isn't a big blur in my recollection is the flight home. I sat, staring out the window, watching the glow of LA disappear. Then I buried my face in my hand, holding back the tears, the fear, the hysteria. I wasn't very good at saying goodbyes.<p>

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

**And please review! :3**


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